---
title: "Living in Chicago as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/chicago
description: "America's great architecture city on the lake"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Chicago, United States

Chicago scores 63.8/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 116 of 309 cities. Expect about $3,108 per month, no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 73.5 Mbps.

Chicago offers big-city culture and a lakefront at prices below New York or San Francisco, with an L that reaches most neighbourhoods. Winters are severe.

Known for: Architecture, Lakefront, Deep-dish and food scene, Brutal winters.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 63.8 |
| Cost of living | 18 |
| Safety | 54 |
| Healthcare | 79 |
| Internet | 75 |
| Visa ease | 53 |
| Getting there & around | 75 |
| Climate | 33 |
| Air quality | 92 |
| Quality of life | 95 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $3,108 | city | 2024 | [^2] |
| Central 1-bedroom rent | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Outskirts 1-bedroom rent (basis of the monthly total) | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Homicide rate (per 100k) | 5.8 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 64.3 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 88 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 76.4 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 73.5 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 11.7 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | unlimited / visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required | editorial | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (ORD/MDW) | 280 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 4 / 5 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 4 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 8.7 | city | 2022 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.938 | country | 2023 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | native | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | -2.5 | 48 | 86 | no |
| Feb | -2.3 | 54 | 84 | no |
| Mar | 2 | 62 | 82 | no |
| Apr | 6.9 | 95 | 81 | no |
| May | 11.8 | 117 | 83 | no |
| Jun | 18.1 | 102 | 81 | yes |
| Jul | 22.5 | 95 | 78 | yes |
| Aug | 22.6 | 105 | 77 | yes |
| Sep | 19.2 | 86 | 76 | yes |
| Oct | 12.4 | 99 | 77 | no |
| Nov | 6 | 61 | 80 | no |
| Dec | 0.5 | 58 | 85 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| O'Hare International Airport | ORD | 276 | 62 | 200 |
| Midway International Airport | MDW | 7 | 7 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 280, of which 66 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [New York City](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/new-york) (63.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/chicago-vs-new-york)
- [Washington DC](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/washington) (64.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/chicago-vs-washington)
- [Boston](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/boston) (62.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/boston-vs-chicago)
- [Dallas](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/dallas) (61.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/chicago-vs-dallas)
- [San Francisco](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/san-francisco) (61.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/chicago-vs-san-francisco)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to live in Chicago as a digital nomad?

A single person typically spends about $3,108 per month in Chicago. That is a 18/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Chicago safe for digital nomads?

Chicago scores 54/100 on safety. United States records 5.8 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 64.3/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does United States have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for United States as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US can stay unlimited days.

### How fast is the internet in Chicago?

Measured median download speed in Chicago was 73.5 Mbps (upload 11.7 Mbps) across 660,594 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

### Which airports serve Chicago and how many nonstop flights are there?

Chicago is served by O'Hare International Airport (ORD) with 276 nonstop destinations and Midway International Airport (MDW) with 7 nonstop destinations, 280 unique destinations across all of them, of which 66 are international. 200 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

### When is the best time of year to be in Chicago?

The most comfortable months are Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep. Mean temperatures range from 28°F (-2°C) in Jan to 73°F (23°C) in Aug (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Chicago or New York City: which is better for digital nomads?

New York City is the city with the closest factor profile to Chicago in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

## Sources

[^1]: City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^2]: Regional Price Parities by metropolitan area, 2024 (all items), US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Public domain (US Government). https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^3]: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^4]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^5]: Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/estimates-of-rates-of-homicides-per-100-000-population (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^6]: Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^7]: UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^8]: Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^9]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^10]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^11]: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. https://github.com/ilyankou/passport-index-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-24)
[^13]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^14]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8), World Health Organization. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-ambient-air-quality-database-(update-jun-2026) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^16]: Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^17]: EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. https://www.ef.com/epi/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)

HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/chicago