Cost of living comparison
compared to
Chicago vs. San Antonio Cost of Living Summary
Chicago is 36.4% more expensive than San Antonio.
Chicago vs. San Antonio Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Chicago instead of San Antonio, you would:
pay 17.8% more for restaurants
|
San Antonio
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$20.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.35
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.74
|
$2.33
|
|
San Antonio vs. Chicago - Cost of restaurants
pay 20.4% more for groceries
|
San Antonio
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.02
|
$4.01
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.74
|
$7.05
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.78
|
$4.30
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.89
|
$5.02
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.64
|
$6.55
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.98
|
$2.31
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.71
|
$0.79
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.95
|
$1.85
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$2.09
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.94
|
$1.16
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.27
|
$1.26
|
|
San Antonio vs. Chicago - Cost of groceries
pay 25.3% more for transportation
|
San Antonio
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.98
|
$3.81
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$39.50
|
$75.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,796.00
|
$35,691.85
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.92
|
$14.43
|
|
San Antonio vs. Chicago - Cost of transportation
pay 19.4% more for housing
|
San Antonio
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$80.64
|
$65.83
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,581.67
|
$2,418.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,112.85
|
$1,692.50
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$155.64
|
$141.41
|
|
San Antonio vs. Chicago - Cost of housing
pay 2.2 times more for childcare
|
San Antonio
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,140.00
|
$2,050.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$15,000.00
|
$39,114.29
|
|
San Antonio vs. Chicago - Cost of childcare
pay 39.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
San Antonio
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.15
|
$5.53
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.00
|
$17.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$44.18
|
$71.80
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.50
|
$18.00
|
|
San Antonio vs. Chicago - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 11.9% more for clothing
|
San Antonio
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$43.89
|
$64.24
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$50.17
|
$49.62
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$106.73
|
$99.48
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$134.38
|
$146.50
|
|
San Antonio 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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