When I moved to Chicago from Atlanta ten years ago, I went through some serious sticker shock. Everything was so much more expensive – especially real estate. When my wife and I bought our first two bedroom/two bath condo we paid more for it than a typical 3 bedroom/2 bath house in a hot neighborhood in Atlanta. It was no surprise to me that according to a recent article in Forbes that Chicago makes their top ten list of most expensive cities to live. It was also no surprise that New York city tops the list.
I am not sure of their methodology, however, I can say that there is no way that Chicago is more expensive than Washington DC and Boston though, at least when it comes to buying real estate. Rent might be on par, but having done quite a few mortgages on the East Coast, Chicago is a bargain relatively speaking.
The Top Ten Most Expensive Cities:
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- White Plains, NY
- San Francisco, CA
- Honolulu, HI
- Miami, FL
- Chicago, IL
- Boston, MA
- Houston, TX
- Washington DC
