Cost of living comparison
compared to
Montana vs. Illinois Cost of Living Summary
Montana is 3.0% more expensive than Illinois.
Montana vs. Illinois Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Montana instead of Illinois, you would:
pay 14.9% more for restaurants
|
Illinois
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.90
|
$19.71
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.89
|
$12.64
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.49
|
$2.63
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.93
|
$2.17
|
|
Illinois vs. Montana - Cost of restaurants
pay 1.9% less for groceries
|
Illinois
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.10
|
$3.53
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.14
|
$8.47
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.46
|
$4.12
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.85
|
$4.27
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.41
|
$4.42
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.35
|
$2.17
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.76
|
$0.77
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.10
|
$1.82
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$1.76
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.07
|
$0.89
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.25
|
$1.01
|
|
Illinois vs. Montana - Cost of groceries
pay 12.4% less for transportation
|
Illinois
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.94
|
$3.79
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$72.27
|
$39.33
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$33,124.22
|
$33,165.71
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.42
|
$22.70
|
|
Illinois vs. Montana - Cost of transportation
pay 11.0% more for housing
|
Illinois
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$71.42
|
$76.54
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,397.04
|
$1,573.69
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,090.29
|
$1,265.88
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$164.01
|
$157.35
|
|
Illinois vs. Montana - Cost of housing
pay 7.2% less for childcare
|
Illinois
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,217.84
|
$1,469.66
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$25,292.64
|
$18,042.22
|
|
Illinois vs. Montana - Cost of childcare
pay 2.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Illinois
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.30
|
$5.30
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.19
|
$5.04
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.30
|
$9.95
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$52.78
|
$64.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.24
|
$12.82
|
|
Illinois vs. Montana - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 7.1% more for clothing
|
Illinois
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$57.56
|
$57.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.90
|
$56.19
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$91.76
|
$95.23
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$112.64
|
$107.40
|
|
Illinois vs. Montana - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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