2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Berkeley, CA vs Evanston, IL

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Evanston or is it cheaper to live in Berkeley?
- Evanston is 45.9% less expensive than Berkeley.

Which city has more affordable housing, Evanston or Berkeley?
- Evanston housing costs are 70.2% less expensive than Berkeley housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Berkeley or is Health Care more affordable in Evanston.
- Health related expenses are 24.7% less in Evanston.
 Berkeley, CAEvanston, ILUnited States
 Overall  Unlock105.7100
 Food & Groceries114.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock88.0100
 Housing521.0  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$424,900$338,100
 Utilities91  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock128.5100
 Miscellaneous158.4  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Berkeley    14 Reviews

Have lived in Berkeley for about 35 years now. Housing/Real Estate: If you're looking to move here, $1,000,000 will get you a small cottage in the "flats". Most of  More

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Over 12 years ago

We have the best climate -- summers and winters are mild. Lots of  More

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Over 14 years ago

The 60's have left Berkeley and now it is about MONEY...and the people there have plenty of it and nice hybrid cars (looks like 2 per household) and with a great bicycle  More

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Reviews for Evanston    20 Reviews

Over 6 years ago

be sure to take pictures of where you park... Full-scale parking scam going on in this town. They purposely obscure self-pay parking signs. Nine out of 10 visitors  More

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I've lived here for two years for school. Terrible place for students. Northwestern is a great school/campus, but the city itself is NOT student friendly. Everything  More

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Aside from everything else mentioned on this site about the bad aspects of Evanston - bot be overlooked is the NOISE. The People's Republic of Evanston CATERS to the  More

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