Cost of living comparison
compared to
Chicago vs. Jersey City Cost of Living Summary
Chicago is 5.1% more expensive than Jersey City.
Chicago vs. Jersey City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Chicago instead of Jersey City, you would:
pay 16.6% more for restaurants
|
Jersey City
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$20.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.28
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.78
|
$2.33
|
|
Jersey City vs. Chicago - Cost of restaurants
pay 10.1% less for groceries
|
Jersey City
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.05
|
$4.01
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.73
|
$7.05
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.83
|
$4.30
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.33
|
$5.02
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.62
|
$6.55
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.87
|
$2.31
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.89
|
$0.79
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.16
|
$1.85
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$2.09
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.41
|
$1.16
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.51
|
$1.26
|
|
Jersey City vs. Chicago - Cost of groceries
pay 10.6% less for transportation
|
Jersey City
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.30
|
$3.81
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$110.00
|
$75.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,911.24
|
$35,691.85
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.40
|
$14.43
|
|
Jersey City vs. Chicago - Cost of transportation
pay 5.1% less for housing
|
Jersey City
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$63.75
|
$65.83
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,437.50
|
$2,418.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,442.86
|
$1,692.50
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$103.54
|
$141.41
|
|
Jersey City vs. Chicago - Cost of housing
pay 28.2% more for childcare
|
Jersey City
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,250.00
|
$2,050.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,666.67
|
$39,114.29
|
|
Jersey City vs. Chicago - Cost of childcare
pay 14.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Jersey City
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.50
|
$5.53
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.98
|
$17.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$66.00
|
$71.80
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$18.00
|
|
Jersey City vs. Chicago - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 2.7% more for clothing
|
Jersey City
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.90
|
$64.24
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$63.33
|
$49.62
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$77.50
|
$99.48
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$133.75
|
$146.50
|
|
Jersey City vs. Chicago - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: October 2026
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