Cost comparison
Compare rent, housing, utilities, groceries, salary needs, and move score across the city profiles currently available in LifeAtlas.
Illinois
Evanston is a supplemental starter city profile for the premium Chicago-adjacent university market in Illinois, useful for route coverage and starter comparisons around rent, housing, utilities, wages, benefits, insurance, and moving costs.
Illinois
Chicago is the large transit and job-market metro in Illinois, promoted in source-ready batch 01 for comparisons around housing, wages, transit, taxes, benefits, and moving costs.
Comparison
Chicago has the lower salary-needed estimate, while Chicago has the lower starter rent. Differences are shown as Chicago minus Evanston.
| Metric | Evanston | Chicago | Difference | Advantage | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,494 | $1,740 | -$754 | Chicago | Chicago has the lower median rent. |
| Home price | $479,745 | $383,500 | -$96,245 | Chicago | Chicago has the lower home price. |
| Utilities | $202/mo | $179/mo | -$23/mo | Chicago | Chicago has the lower utilities. |
| Groceries index | 106 | 100 | -6 | Chicago | Chicago has the lower groceries index. |
| Salary needed | $84,491 | $78,660 | -$5,831 | Chicago | Chicago has the lower salary needed. |
| Move score | 72/100 | 78/100 | +6 | Chicago | Chicago has the higher move score. |