HomeMarketCap.comBoston vs Chicago: Where Housing Costs Less
Housing is 58% cheaper in Chicago on typical home value: $815,935 in Boston against $340,167 in Chicago. Typical rent is 43% lower in Chicago: $3,297 in Boston against $1,883 in Chicago per month. The ranges overlap: Boston runs $608,161 to $3,306,316 across its ZIPs and Chicago runs $125,693 to $684,050, so the cheaper metro on the median still contains neighborhoods dearer than parts of the other.
Key stats
- Typical home value is 58% lower in Chicago: $815,935 in Boston against $340,167 in Chicago.
- Typical rent is 43% lower in Chicago: $3,297 in Boston against $1,883 in Chicago per month.
- The ranges overlap: Boston runs $608,161 to $3,306,316 across its ZIPs and Chicago runs $125,693 to $684,050, so the cheaper metro on the median still contains neighborhoods dearer than parts of the other.
- The income-needed indicator stands at $195,495 for Boston and $96,162 for Chicago, a difference of $99,334.
- Median ZIP home value
- $815,935 / $340,167
- Median ZIP rent
- $3,297 / $1,883
- Tracked ZIP markets
- 28 / 56
What housing costs in Boston and Chicago
Typical home value is 58% lower in Chicago: $815,935 in Boston against $340,167 in Chicago.
Typical rent is 43% lower in Chicago: $3,297 in Boston against $1,883 in Chicago per month.
Where the two metros actually overlap
The ranges overlap: Boston runs $608,161 to $3,306,316 across its ZIPs and Chicago runs $125,693 to $684,050, so the cheaper metro on the median still contains neighborhoods dearer than parts of the other.
A metro median decides nothing on its own: a move lands in one neighborhood, not in the average of all of them, and the ranges above are what a shortlist has to sit inside.
What this comparison does not include
This page compares housing only. Groceries, transport, state and local taxes, insurance, and childcare are not measured here and can move the total either way — in particular, the two metros may sit in states with very different income-tax treatment.
The income-needed indicator stands at $195,495 for Boston and $96,162 for Chicago, a difference of $99,334.
Continue your market research
- Boston housing marketMetro overview and the full ZIP directory.
- Chicago housing marketMetro overview and the full ZIP directory.
- Moving to Boston: what housing costsThe same figures read from a mover’s side.
- Moving to Chicago: what housing costsThe same figures read from a mover’s side.
Sources and method
- HomeMarketCap.com data sources: ZIP and metro housing-market datasets
- HomeMarketCap.com methodology: Metric definitions and calculation rules