2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Evanston, IL vs Columbia, MD

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Columbia or is it cheaper to live in Evanston?
- Columbia is 21.0% more expensive than Evanston.

Which city has more affordable housing, Columbia or Evanston?
- Columbia housing costs are 8.0% less expensive than Evanston housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Evanston or is Health Care more affordable in Columbia.
- Health related expenses are 1.7% less in Columbia.
 Evanston, ILColumbia, MDUnited States
 Overall  Unlock127.9100
 Food & Groceries100.9  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock86.5100
 Housing155.4  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$441,800$338,100
 Utilities95  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock107.9100
 Miscellaneous140.4  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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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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Reviews for Columbia    28 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

Lived here for a while, beautiful opportunities, pays well, overall nice  More

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Been here 30 years was great at first but once they added a transit bus from baltimore to columbia 15-18 years ago that was the beginning of the end. And about 5 years  More

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Columbia can be described in one word: unequal. The neighborhood I live in, River Hill, is jam-packed with almost million-dollar homes, while the neighborhoods of Long  More

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