Cost of living vs Chicago (Indianapolis, Bloomington: for rent, insurance, condo)

[jman07]

Would a $6 dollar an hour increase in pay cover the cost of living in a chicago suburb vs indy suburbs to have the same standard of living?

[j33]

Depends on the suburb and whether or not you want to buy or rent. The cost of housing in Indy is much less than chicago for buying, but not as much less (but definately less) than for renting. I know that the older 2 bedroom + den detached house my friends had in Broadripple, Indianapolis would not exist at all in Chicago proper (lawn was too big, had a driveway, etc) and certainly would not have existed at the price (a bit under 200k), and they would have had a hard time finding a house in the 'burbs' for that price as well (at least a burb they would like to have lived in).

[prairiestate]

In the Chicago area, the cheapest, decent housing that you can get in a nice community would be a 25-30 year old, 1 or 2 bedroom condo in an inner or middle suburb, priced from about $130,000 to $180,000, depending on the exact location and amenities.

[rrah]

My best guess--no. In addition to housing costs being higher, gas costs are significantly more usually. License plates for cars are much less, but auto insurance maybe more. Interestingly enough I think groceries are a little less in the Chicago area than where I live now--Bloomington. $6.00/hr translates to about $1000/ month berfore taxes. If you're single, it might be okay, but if you have a family it could be tight.

[domergurl]

I don't think a $6 increase in pay makes a hoot of difference, but living in Indiana is definitely cheaper in terms of gas prices, groceries, property taxes ....

[jman07]

that comes out to 15k a year