Cost of living comparison
compared to
Chicago vs. Poland Cost of Living Summary
Chicago is 2.1 times more expensive than Poland overall.
Chicago vs. Poland Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Chicago instead of Poland, you would:
pay 73.5% more for restaurants
|
Poland
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$10.02
PLN38.91
|
$21.25
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$8.33
PLN32.36
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.06
PLN7.99
|
$2.66
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.69
PLN6.55
|
$2.30
|
|
Poland vs. Chicago - Cost of restaurants
pay 2.2 times more for groceries
|
Poland
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.26
PLN4.91
|
$3.92
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.34
PLN16.87
|
$7.07
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.75
PLN14.56
|
$4.97
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.32
PLN12.89
|
$4.78
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.84
PLN11.04
|
$6.65
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.51
PLN1.99
|
$2.39
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.72
PLN2.79
|
$0.89
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.77
PLN3.00
|
$1.87
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.22
PLN4.76
|
$2.21
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.38
PLN1.49
|
$1.24
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.45
PLN1.76
|
$1.23
|
|
Poland vs. Chicago - Cost of groceries
pay 26.0% more for transportation
|
Poland
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.15
PLN23.90
|
$4.66
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$30.85
PLN119.83
|
$75.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$30,440.20
PLN118K
|
$36,531.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$8.65
PLN33.58
|
$14.45
|
|
Poland vs. Chicago - Cost of transportation
pay 2.7 times more for housing
|
Poland
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$16.87
PLN65.54
|
$61.13
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$635.08
PLN2,467.09
|
$2,400.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$525.98
PLN2,043.28
|
$1,679.31
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$213.80
PLN830.55
|
$147.87
|
|
Poland vs. Chicago - Cost of housing
pay 4.2 times more for childcare
|
Poland
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$375.24
PLN1,457.68
|
$1,536.88
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$7,342.23
PLN28,522.48
|
$31,537.78
|
|
Poland vs. Chicago - Cost of childcare
pay 98.2% more for entertainment and sports
|
Poland
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.44
PLN13.36
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.38
PLN13.13
|
$5.70
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$5.25
PLN20.38
|
$16.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$36.23
PLN140.74
|
$53.47
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$7.22
PLN28.04
|
$18.00
|
|
Poland vs. Chicago - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 19.5% more for clothing
|
Poland
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$81.02
PLN314.75
|
$66.94
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$36.65
PLN142.38
|
$51.67
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$85.93
PLN333.81
|
$99.58
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$95.22
PLN369.91
|
$143.78
|
|
Poland vs. Chicago - 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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Compare further: Poland vs. Chicago
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See the
cost of living in Poland vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Poland and United States.
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