Brownsville, TX vs Chicago, IL
Moving from Brownsville to Chicago? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($207,150 → $353,998 median home) and taxes.
Brownsville vs Chicago at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Brownsville, TX, you'd need about $119,588 in Chicago, IL (+$19,588).
Livability — Brownsville, TX: 78 · Chicago, IL: 63 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 5,071 sqft in Brownsville vs 2,402 sqft in Chicago ($99 vs $208 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Brownsville, TX | Chicago, IL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $17,520 | $27,192 | +$9,672 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $5,215 | +$569 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $3,550 | −$125 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $2,208 | +$372 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $1,900 | −$1,700 |
| Taxes | $4,718 | $14,141 | +$9,423 |
| Total | $35,996 | $54,206 | +$18,211 |
Side by side
| Metric | Brownsville, TX | Chicago, IL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 85.7 | 102.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.71% | 6.19% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.4% | 0.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $4.88 | $5.83 |
| Median home price | $207,150 | $353,998 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.4× | 4.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.7% | 4.4% |
| Price per square foot | $99 | $208 |
| Median rent | $1,460 | $2,266 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 12.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 8.86% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.95% |
| Property tax rate | 1.69% | 2.11% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $14,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 20 | 31 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $1,900 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $300 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 20.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 3.60 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $82 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $57 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 15 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 32.4 | 40.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 38.8 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 54% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 4 |