2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Chicago, IL vs Iowa City, IA

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Highlights
- Household income in Iowa City, is 21% less than it is in Chicago and is 33% below the National Average.
- Chicago unemployment rate is 9.0%.
- Iowa City unemployment rate is 3.5%.
 Chicago, ILIowa City, IAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock3.5%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.2%1.6%
 Future Job Growth25.7%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes10.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock7.4%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$41,821  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$51,925$69,021
 Family Median Income$79,434  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Chicago, ILIowa City, IAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock16.5%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K4.2%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock9.5%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K7.6%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock8.1%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.5%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock8.7%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.7%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock12.7%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K7.7%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock6.0%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Chicago, ILIowa City, IAUnited States
 Management, business, finance19.5%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock8.0%6.5%
 Community, social services2.1%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.0%1.2%
 Education, library6.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.6%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology5.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.3%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement3.0%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock9.9%5.4%
 Building maintenance3.4%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock3.0%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.3%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.5%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair4.9%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.2%13.1%
Reviews for Chicago    270 Reviews

I've lived in Chicago city and later moved to suburbs when family size increased. Absolutely love this city. This is the cleanest and most beautiful among the major  More

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Chicago is probably the best value in a major city that you can find and my personal favorite city. It will become increasingly important as climate change makes the  More

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I've live on north side and south side, UIC medical center. Don't move here go to the north side. No good amenities, if you get bored with one there is no other choices.  More

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Reviews for Iowa City    24 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

I was there 5 years. Nothing to do but we’ll go shopping... at Walmart. It lacks so many things. There is no experience here, it jumps on any political band wagon and  More

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Over 5 years ago

Entertainment lacks greatly - especially the Hancher shows. I was hoping after they rebuilt they would be getting better shows there, that didn't happen. One has to  More

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Over 7 years ago

Iowa City is great. It's diverse and never boring. There always a variety of new shops and restaurants to explore and try out. Also watching college kids do stupid  More

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