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Have you been thinking about moving to Chicago? If yes, you’re probably interested in being able to find a reputable moving company that can get you from A to B in no time. However, finding the perfect moving company is certainly no easy task. Thus, to give you an extra hand in finding the best Chicago movers to choose from, we compiled the following recommendations for you below!
Choosing Chicago Movers: Why Is It Important?
Choosing a mover located in Chicago is probably the smartest idea for your move to the Windy City. Why is this smart you ask? Well, moving with a local mover comes with the benefit that they have a good understanding of the area compared to out-of-state movers. Chicago moving companies will be aware of any challenges that might be unique to Chicago, which means they will know how to prepare accordingly!
Reviews: Chicago Moving Companies
Let’s be honest, it is no secret that moving will definitely cost you a pretty penny. So, we imagine that sticking to your budget is likely to be your number one priority. However, as experts, we recommend that you try to look beyond costs and also take into account the quality of the Chicago movers who contact you.
One of the easiest ways to get a feeling of the quality of the services offered by movers in Chicago is by looking at customer reviews online (Tip!: You can find tons of customer reviews for hundreds of moving companies on our site!). Remember, it’s important that you take these with a grain of salt! We recommend that you seek out reviews across different platforms and compare what customers have to say among such.
Costs of Hiring Chicago Movers
As you might know, there are no fixed prices for moving companies in Chicago. Overall, the costs of your move will vary according to:
- Distance: A longer total distance between departure and arrival imply higher moving costs.
- Volume of your move: Large moves are usually more expensive. Curious about what the total size of your move is? Use our handy moving space calculator to find out!
- Date of your move: Weekend and summer moves are usually more expensive compared to the rest of the year.
- Transport: The type of transport you decide to use (air, land, sea) to make your move represents an important part of your final costs.
- Additional services: (Dis)assembly services, insurance, etc., can all rack up your bill pretty quickly.
Moving to Chicago: Everything You Need to Know
How Much Does Moving to Chicago Cost?
First things first, let’s talk about costs. Even though moving to Chicago will be one hell of an adventure, it will probably be a slightly pricey one. Don’t let this discourage you though, there’s many ways you can save on your move! 😉
Your final moving costs will be affected by a series of factors, which can vary depending on whether you’re performing a local move or an out-of-state move. But! The factors that hold the most weight in determining your costs are ultimately the volume of your move and the distance between departure and arrival points.
We understand this might all sound a bit vague unless you’ve been around the block a few times. So, to illustrate this better, we put together a list of estimates for a full-service move to Chicago from different cities across the United States below.
| Departure | 1-bedroom | 2-bedrooms | 3-bedrooms |
| Washington D.C | $3,165 – $4,374 | $4,374 – $5,605 | $6,758 – $9,148 |
| Los Angeles | $4,182 – $5,882 | $5,882 – $7,569 | $9,128 – $12,371 |
| New York City | $3,383 – $4,699 | $4,699 – $6,031 | $7,279 – $9,863 |
| Austin | $3,542 – $4,933 | $4,933 – $6,333 | $7,635 – $10,338 |
Disclaimer: the rates shown above are just mere estimates. Your moving costs will vary depending on your actual point of departure, the size of your move, and the service rates of the company.
Checklist for Your Move to Chicago
On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you trust yourself to remember everything you need to do before, during, and after your move to Chicago? Even if you feel pretty confident on the matter, we still advise you to rely on a moving checklist –this will truly take a lot of that moving-related stress away, trust us!
To give you a hand remembering, we summarized the five most important things you cannot forget when moving to Chicago in the handy infographic below!
Interested in a more detailed checklist? We got ya’. Check out our comprehensive national moving checklist, it covers every detail you shouldn’t forget during your move to Chicago!
Moving to Chicago for Work
Unless you’re moving to Chi-Town with a job secured already, it’s very likely that you’d be interested in understanding what the job market in the city is like. We’d like to start with some good news, Chicago has an incredibly diversified economy, which means that there’s virtually a place for everyone in the market!
Even though you’ll be able to find job opportunities in multiple industries, the following ones are currently the most successful and fast-growing:
- Health services and technology;
- Transportation, distribution, and logistics;
- Information technology;
- Manufacturing;
- Food industry;
- Business and professional services.
Although this will most certainly vary depending on the field of work you decide to partake in, the average yearly salary in Chicago is $71,000. When scouting for a job, we recommend that you check out the following pages:
Costs of Living in Chicago
We don’t need to tell you that moving to Chicago will most certainly be quite an exciting adventure. But before you drop it all and start a new life in the Windy City, it’s important that you make sure you have a good understanding of the living costs in the city.
To give you a rough idea, compared to the national average of 100, Chicago currently scores 106.9 on the cost of living index. Now, since our job is to make your life easier and we know a lot of you might be wondering “what does this number even mean?”, we’ve broken down the costs of living into the most common categories in the sections below.
Housing
To rent or not to rent, that is the question. We know that determining what is the best route to pursue in regard to housing when moving to Chicago can be a bit tricky. To help you out with this dilemma, we’ve compiled a list of ballpark estimates for both the average rent and home values across a few neighborhoods in the Windy City.
| Neighborhood | Average Rent | Average Home Value |
| River North | $2,600 | $457,791 |
| East Village | $2,483 | $513,000 |
| Lincoln Park | $1,846 | $575,899 |
| North Center | $1,504 | $802,170 |
| Bridgeport | $1,419 | $388,429 |
Disclaimer: The prices shown above are just estimates. These prices will vary depending on the property size and the neighborhood of your choice.
Food & Groceries
We can imagine that you’re more than ready to say hello to the town of deep-dish pizza —we’d be as well if we were moving to Chicago. Chicago is definitely a town that has lots of offer cuisine-wise, but we still imagine that you still will want to cook homemade meals every now and then.
To give you a glimpse of what you can expect, we’ve compiled a list of the average costs of common grocery items in Chicago in the table below.
| Grocery Item | Average Cost |
| Loaf of fresh bread | $2.77 |
| 1 lb. of chicken filet | $4.51 |
| 1 lb. of beef round | $5.56 |
| Carton of 12 eggs | $2.20 |
| 1 lb. of bananas | $0.71 |
| 1 lb. of potatoes | $1.53 |
| 1 lb. of local cheese | $5.25 |
| Bottle of wine | $12 |
Foodie Tip!: Besides the wonderful deep-dish pizza, we heavily recommend trying out the Classic Chicago-style hotdog —thank us later! 😉
Transportation
Like any big city in the US, Chicago is well equipped with quite a good public transport that will get you from A to B in no time. So even if you’re moving to Chicago without a vehicle, don’t worry, you’ll be covered! To give you an idea of what to expect, we compiled the public transport fares as of 2021 in the list below:
- Reduced Fares: senior citizens (65 and older) and children aged 7 to 11 pay a fare of $1.25. Military personnel in full uniform ride and children under the age of 7 ride for free.
- Single Ride: fares of $2.50 per ride on the L train and $2.25 per ride on the bus.
- Visitor Passes: include unlimited rides for a given period of time; a one-day pass is $10, a three-day pass is $20, and a seven-day pass is $28.
Fun fact: Did you know that in Chicago you don’t take the metro, but rather you take the L?
Leisure
Perhaps one of the funniest parts about your move to Chicago will be enjoying all the wonderful sights —pictures at the Cloud Gate are a must, museums, and restaurants across town. To help you picture what your new life in Chicago could be like, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite Chicagoan activities and their respective costs below!
| Activity | Average Cost |
| Three-course dinner | $75 |
| Ticket to the Art Institute of Chicago | $19 – $25 |
| Two tickets to the movies | $23 |
| Ticket to the Shedd Aquarium | $39.95 ($19.95 for Chicago residents!) |
| Two tickets to the theater | $236 |
| Monthly gym membership | $80 |
| Cappuccino at a local café | $4.45 |
Curious Facts About Chicago
- Chicago is home to the Twinkie —everyone says thank you to Chicago for inventing one of the best snacks known to men.
- The world’s tallest building designed by a female architect resides in Chicago —go give the Aqua skyscraper a look in your free time, it’s definitely a sight!
- The world’s first brownie was invented in Chicago’s Palmer house –again, thank you Chicago!
- Field Museum in Chicago currently owns the world’s most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton —they named the skeleton Sue… What a fitted name for a dinosaur.
We hope this article served as the perfect “How to Move to Chicago 101” lesson! 😉 In case you need further help planning your move to Chicago, we recommend that you check out the pages we have linked below for you. Good luck!
Ready to Hire the Best Mover in Chicago?
We know that deciding what moving company to choose is a very important decision. Luckily, we’re here to make our life easier 😉 By filling out our moving quote you will be able to receive up to 5 free quotes from the best moving companies in Chicago!
