# Living in Chicago, United States

> Open, sourced figures for Chicago: take-home pay, monthly costs, who may live there, climate, air, safety and health. Figures as of 2026-11-05. Canonical page: https://borgo.abcastor.com/city/chicago-us/

## Key facts

- Chicago has about 2,664,452 residents (GeoNames).
- On a gross salary of US$67,000 a year, an employee in Chicago takes home about US$52,793 a year (US$4,399 a month) after income tax and employee contributions, an effective rate of 21.2% (United States 2026 rules). Illinois: no local income tax; no property tax or education credits.
- A one-bedroom home in Chicago rents for about US$1,565 a month (city figure; American Community Survey 1-year estimates, US Census Bureau, 2025).
- In Chicago the average daily high (air temperature in the shade) peaks at 27.1 °C in July and the average daily low falls to −7.0 °C in January (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- Chicago has about 53 nice days a year, days that are dry, mostly clear and feel 18 to 30 °C on average from 8 am to 8 pm, most of them in August (13) (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- Between 2021 and 2025 the air in Chicago reached 37.4 °C at its hottest and −24.9 °C at its coldest (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo).
- It rains or snows (at least 1 mm) on about 120 days a year in Chicago (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- The shortest day in Chicago lasts 9 h 08 min and the longest 15 h 13 min (computed from latitude).
- Fine dust (PM2.5) in Chicago averages 8.7 µg/m³ a year, 1.7 times the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³ (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), World Health Organization, 2022).
- Everyday prices in the United States sit at 100.0 on an index where the United States is 100 (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2025).
- Life expectancy at birth in the United States is 78.9 years (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2024).
- The United States records 5.76 intentional homicides per 100,000 people a year (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2023).
- Only citizens of the United States can live and work in Chicago without a visa or permit; everyone else needs one.

## Take-home pay (United States, 2026 rules)

| Gross a year | Take-home a year | A month | Effective rate |
|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| US$34,000 | US$27,961 | US$2,330 | 17.8% |
| US$67,000 | US$52,793 | US$4,399 | 21.2% |
| US$110,000 | US$80,915 | US$6,743 | 26.4% |

Wages only: federal income tax with the standard deduction (single, or married filing jointly), the Child Tax Credit, Social Security and Medicare, plus state tax where a state module exists and New York City tax. Sources: [IRS: tax year 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32)](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-releases-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2026-including-amendments-from-the-one-big-beautiful-bill), [SSA: contribution and benefit base](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html), [IDOR: IL-700-T 2026 withholding tables (4.95%, $2,925 exemption)](https://tax.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/tax/forms/withholding/documents/currentyear/il-700-t.pdf), [IDOR: FY 2026-15, what's new (exemption limit above $250,000 AGI)](https://tax.illinois.gov/research/publications/bulletins/fy-2026-15.html).

## A month on the reference profile

Assumed: one person, €60,000 gross a year, a one-bedroom home, everyday spending of €1,200 a month in Lisbon scaled by each country's price level.

- Take-home pay: US$4,406
- Rent: US$1,565 (American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2025)
- Everyday spending: US$2,069
- Health care, out of pocket: US$123
- Left each month: US$650 (partial: leaves out health insurance premium bought outside pay (add yours, a month))

## Who can live and work here without a visa

- Citizens of the United States

## Climate (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), 2021-2025)

| Month | High °C (air) | Low °C (air) | Lowest °C | Highest °C | Nice days | Wet days | Daylight |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Jan | −0.2 | −7.0 | −24.9 | 12.7 | 0 | 10.0 | 9 h 27 min |
| Feb | 2.3 | −6.3 | −21.9 | 21.8 | 0 | 7.4 | 10 h 30 min |
| Mar | 9.1 | 0.4 | −12.3 | 24.2 | 0 | 11.8 | 11 h 53 min |
| Apr | 14.0 | 4.9 | −4.8 | 29.8 | 1 | 13.0 | 13 h 20 min |
| May | 19.4 | 10.5 | 2.4 | 32.3 | 2 | 10.6 | 14 h 35 min |
| Jun | 26.5 | 17.1 | 8.5 | 37.4 | 10 | 9.4 | 15 h 12 min |
| Jul | 27.1 | 19.3 | 13.7 | 35.0 | 11 | 12.0 | 14 h 54 min |
| Aug | 26.8 | 19.1 | 11.1 | 37.0 | 13 | 10.2 | 13 h 49 min |
| Sep | 24.0 | 16.1 | 8.1 | 34.6 | 13 | 7.4 | 12 h 25 min |
| Oct | 17.6 | 9.9 | −2.2 | 30.5 | 3 | 11.0 | 10 h 58 min |
| Nov | 9.5 | 2.3 | −10.2 | 21.6 | 0 | 7.0 | 9 h 45 min |
| Dec | 3.8 | −2.9 | −23.3 | 17.7 | 0 | 9.8 | 9 h 09 min |

Nice days: dry, mostly clear and feeling 18 to 30 °C on average from 8 am to 8 pm. Lowest and highest: the extremes of 2021-2025.

## Every figure

| Figure | Value | Period | Level | Source | Licence |
|---|---:|---|---|---|---|
| Rent, one bedroom | US$1,565 a month | 2025 | city | [American Community Survey 1-year estimates](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/summary-file.html) | Public domain (US government work) |
| Rent, three bedrooms | US$1,802 a month | 2025 | city | [American Community Survey 1-year estimates](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/summary-file.html) | Public domain (US government work) |
| Childcare fees, one child | US$14,188 a year | 2026 | United States-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare fees, two children | US$27,103 a year | 2026 | United States-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: couple, one child | US$13,138 a year | 2026 | United States-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: couple, two children | US$25,003 a year | 2026 | United States-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: single parent, one child | US$13,198 a year | 2026 | United States-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: single parent, two children | US$25,123 a year | 2026 | United States-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Out-of-pocket health spending | US$1,472 a year per person | 2023 | United States-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Paid holiday by law | 0 working days a year | 2026 | United States-wide | [Paid holiday by law, from the labour codes cited](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/src/fetch/family.ts) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Public holidays on working days | 11 days a year | 2026 | region | [Nager.Date public holidays](https://date.nager.at/) | MIT |
| Paid leave for mothers | 0.0 weeks at full pay | 2025 | United States-wide | [OECD Family Database: parental leave systems (PF2.1)](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Paid leave for fathers | 0.0 weeks at full pay | 2025 | United States-wide | [OECD Family Database: parental leave systems (PF2.1)](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Price level | 100.0 index, US = 100 | 2025 | United States-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Wet days | 120 days a year | 2021-2025 | city | [Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)](https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/historical-weather-api) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Sunshine | 2,515 hours a year | 1961-1990 | city | [Meteostat climate normals](https://dev.meteostat.net/) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Fine dust (PM2.5) | 8.7 µg/m³ | 2022 | city | [WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026)](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/air-pollution/who-air-quality-database) | WHO terms for data compilations (public-health use, unaltered values; not CC BY) |
| Homicides | 5.76 per 100,000 | 2023 | United States-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Life expectancy | 78.9 years | 2024 | United States-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Research output | 1,432 works per 100k residents | 2025 | city | [OpenAlex institutions](https://openalex.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Research output per resident | 47 of 100 | 2025 | city | [OpenAlex institutions](https://openalex.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Universities and colleges | 75 organisations | 2026-10-27 | city | [Research Organization Registry](https://ror.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Research institutes | 16 organisations | 2026-10-27 | city | [Research Organization Registry](https://ror.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Founders Running Club | no chapter | 2026-10-27 | city | [Founders Running Club communities](https://foundersrc.com/communities) | Public listing (facts of presence only; no licence stated) |
| Coworking spaces | 13 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Climbing gyms | 4 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Public swimming pools | 22 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Hackerspaces and makerspaces | 3 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Green space | 5.8 % of land | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Distance to the sea | 933 km | Natural Earth 5.1 | city | [Natural Earth (coastline, land, countries and populated places)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/) | Public domain |
| Distance to the mountains | 300 km | terrain tiles 2017 | city | [Terrain Tiles (Terrarium) on AWS Open Data](https://registry.opendata.aws/terrain-tiles/) | Public domain (USGS, NOAA) and Open Government Licence – Canada, with attribution |
| Nearest major airport | 11 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OurAirports airports](https://ourairports.com/data/) | Public domain |
| Airports within 100 km | 4 airports | 2026-10-27 | city | [OurAirports airports](https://ourairports.com/data/) | Public domain |
| Rail and metro stations | 109 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Cycle paths | 135 km within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Commuting by public transport | 25.1 % of commuters | 2025 | city | [American Community Survey 1-year estimates](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/summary-file.html) | Public domain (US government work) |
| Commute time | 34 minutes | 2025 | city | [American Community Survey 1-year estimates](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/summary-file.html) | Public domain (US government work) |
| Born abroad | 21.1 % of residents | 2025 | city | [American Community Survey 1-year estimates](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/summary-file.html) | Public domain (US government work) |
| English speakers | 96 % of population | CLDR 49 | United States-wide | [CLDR territory information](https://cldr.unicode.org/) | Unicode-3.0 |
| English is official | yes | CLDR 49 | United States-wide | [CLDR territory information](https://cldr.unicode.org/) | Unicode-3.0 |
| Internet speed | 62 Mbit/s | 2023 | city | [M-Lab NDT statistics (daily city aggregates)](https://www.measurementlab.net/data/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Adults with a degree | 56.5 % of adults | 2025 | city | [American Community Survey 1-year estimates](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/summary-file.html) | Public domain (US government work) |
| Developers on GitHub | 19.3 per 1,000 residents | 2026-11-05 | city | [GitHub user search](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/search/search#search-users) | No data licence: only total counts of profiles are stored (GitHub Acceptable Use Policies, section 7) |
| Everyday needs on foot | 92 % of streets | 2026-11-05 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Cycle network | 0.55 km per km² of land | 2026-11-05 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Walking or cycling to work | 9.5 % of commuters | 2025 | city | [American Community Survey 1-year estimates](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data/summary-file.html) | Public domain (US government work) |
| Out of the dense city | 18.2 km | 2025 | city | [GHS Urban Centre Database 2025 (R2024A), general characteristics](https://human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu/ghs_ucdb_2024.php) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Abortion in law | on request, 10 weeks or later | 2026 | region | [Abortion in law, from the statutes cited](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/src/fetch/rights-law.ts) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Doctors | 3.7 per 1,000 people | 2022 | United States-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Unemployment | 4.2 % of the labour force | 2025 | United States-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Control of corruption | 0.87 -2.5 to 2.5 | 2025 | United States-wide | [Worldwide Governance Indicators](https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Same-sex couples in law | marriage | 2026 | United States-wide | [Same-sex couples in law, from the statutes cited](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/src/fetch/rights-law.ts) | CC-BY-4.0 |

No open figure yet for: your childcare cost, health insurance premium, life satisfaction, public swimming pools (official), green urban areas (official), monthly transit pass, road deaths, politics, left to right.

## Comparisons

- [Chicago vs Austin](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/austin-us-vs-chicago-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Boston](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/boston-us-vs-chicago-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Denver](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-denver-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Los Angeles](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-los-angeles-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Miami](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-miami-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Montreal](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-montreal-ca/index.md)
- [Chicago vs New York](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-new-york-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs San Francisco](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-san-francisco-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Seattle](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-seattle-us/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Toronto](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-toronto-ca/index.md)
- [Chicago vs Vancouver](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/chicago-us-vs-vancouver-ca/index.md)

## Credits

- Borgo contributors, from the statutes cited in each figure's note ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates ([Public domain (US government work)](https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright))
- Unicode CLDR territory information. Copyright © 1991-2026 Unicode, Inc. Used under the Unicode License v3 (https://www.unicode.org/license.txt) ([Unicode License v3](https://www.unicode.org/license.txt))
- Borgo contributors, from the statutes cited in each figure's note ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Founders Running Club communities list (facts of presence and links only) ([No licence from the publisher: only facts of presence are stored](https://foundersrc.com/communities))
- Places, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0 ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- GHS-UCDB R2024A, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.2905/1a338be6-7eaf-480c-9664-3a8ade88cbcd; Borgo derives the distance from the centre to the urban centre's edge Shores and lakes from Natural Earth (public domain) decide which directions lead on to land. ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Counts of GitHub profiles by stated location, from GitHub's public user search (counts only, no profile data) ([No data licence from the publisher: only total counts are stored, no record about anyone, as its terms allow public, non-personal information in openly published research](https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/acceptable-use-policies/github-acceptable-use-policies#7-information-usage-restrictions))
- Borgo contributors, from the labour codes cited in each figure's note ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Source: Meteostat (meteostat.net) and its data providers (dev.meteostat.net/providers), CC BY 4.0 ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- The M-Lab NDT Data Set, 2023-01-01–2023-12-31. https://measurementlab.net/tests/ndt ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- Public holidays from Nager.Date (date.nager.at), MIT License, Copyright (c) Nager ([MIT License](https://opensource.org/license/mit))
- Made with Natural Earth (public domain) ([Public domain (dedicated by the publisher)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/))
- OECD (2026), Net childcare costs, OECD Tax-Benefit Models, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. ([OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html))
- OECD (2026), OECD Family Database, PF2.1 Parental leave systems, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. ([OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html))
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), CC BY 4.0 Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2021-2025. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains. ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- OpenAlex (openalex.org), CC0 ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ([Open Database License 1.0](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/))
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ([Open Database License 1.0](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/))
- Airports from OurAirports (ourairports.com), public domain ([Public domain (dedicated by the publisher)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/))
- Research Organization Registry (ror.org), CC0 ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- Terrain Tiles on AWS Open Data (Mapzen, a Linux Foundation project): SRTM and GMTED2010 terrain data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; ETOPO1, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Canada terrain data contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada ([Terrain Tiles source terms: public domain (USGS, NOAA) and Open Government Licence – Canada, with attribution](https://github.com/tilezen/joerd/blob/master/docs/attribution.md))
- World Health Organization, WHO Ambient Air Quality Database (Version 8.0), 2026, accessed 2026-10-27; data provided by the national and regional agencies named in each value's note WHO does not endorse Borgo, its use of these data, or any city ranking built from them. Values are as published by WHO; WHO advises against using the database to rank cities or compare countries directly, because monitoring differs between places. ([WHO terms and conditions for data compilations](https://www.who.int/about/policies/publishing/data-policy/terms-and-conditions))
- World Bank, World Development Indicators, CC BY 4.0 (underlying sources named in each figure's note: ICP, IMF, UNODC, UN Population Division, WHO, ILO, UNESCO Institute for Statistics) ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators, Control of Corruption estimate, CC BY 4.0 ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))

## Cite

Borgo, "Living in Chicago", https://borgo.abcastor.com/city/chicago-us/, figures as of 2026-11-05. Name the original source of any figure you quote. JSON: https://borgo.abcastor.com/api/city/chicago-us.json