Cost of living comparison
compared to
Illinois vs. Italy Cost of Living Summary
Illinois is 29.0% more expensive than Italy overall.
Illinois vs. Italy Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Illinois instead of Italy, you would:
pay 5.2% less for restaurants
|
Italy
|
Illinois
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.81
€16.74
|
$16.90
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.59
€10.31
|
$10.89
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.95
€2.62
|
$2.49
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.38
€1.23
|
$1.93
|
|
Italy vs. Illinois - Cost of restaurants
pay 13.9% more for groceries
|
Italy
|
Illinois
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.19
€1.95
|
$3.10
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.58
€7.64
|
$6.14
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.84
€5.20
|
$3.46
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.02
€3.58
|
$3.85
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.65
€5.02
|
$5.41
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.15
€1.02
|
$2.35
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.96
€0.85
|
$0.76
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.19
€1.06
|
$2.10
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.45
€1.29
|
$2.00
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.86
€0.76
|
$1.07
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.81
€0.72
|
$1.25
|
|
Italy vs. Illinois - Cost of groceries
pay 13.4% less for transportation
|
Italy
|
Illinois
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$7.75
€6.90
|
$3.94
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$43.51
€38.72
|
$72.27
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,598.57
€30,793.97
|
$33,124.22
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.27
€18.04
|
$16.42
|
|
Italy vs. Illinois - Cost of transportation
pay 77.3% more for housing
|
Italy
|
Illinois
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$30.01
€26.71
|
$71.42
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$723.52
€643.96
|
$1,397.04
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$562.80
€500.92
|
$1,090.29
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$162.38
€144.52
|
$164.01
|
|
Italy vs. Illinois - Cost of housing
pay 2.3 times more for childcare
|
Italy
|
Illinois
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$542.33
€482.69
|
$1,217.84
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$10,535.75
€9,377.19
|
$25,292.64
|
|
Italy vs. Illinois - Cost of childcare
pay 32.8% more for entertainment and sports
|
Italy
|
Illinois
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.64
€5.02
|
$5.30
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.96
€1.74
|
$5.19
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.73
€5.99
|
$11.30
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$55.93
€49.78
|
$52.78
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.26
€9.13
|
$13.24
|
|
Italy vs. Illinois - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 12.3% less for clothing
|
Italy
|
Illinois
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$86.42
€76.92
|
$57.56
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$38.24
€34.03
|
$41.90
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.86
€88.88
|
$91.76
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$127.82
€113.76
|
$112.64
|
|
Italy vs. Illinois - 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
Change currency:
Compare further: Italy vs. Illinois
Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Illinois?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics
Make 63.2% more money in Illinois
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Italy is about 2.1 times bigger than Illinois.
→
Moving from Italy to Illinois · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→
City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of Rome vs Chicago
→
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in Italy vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Italy and United States.
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate.
Learn more
Ask the Elsewhere Community
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Illinois or Italy. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.