Climate
Chicago logs 15 hot days a year to Los Angeles's 65 — Chicago wins by 50. Los Angeles also leads on sunny days by 117.
Chicago
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Los Angeles
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Chicago is $686/mo cheaperChicago runs about $3,665/mo for a balanced lifestyle against Los Angeles's $4,351/mo — Chicago comes in $686 cheaper each month, roughly 19% less.
Chicago
$3,665monthly · balanced
Los Angeles
$4,351monthly · balanced
Mobility
On mobility, Chicago scores 3.4 vs Los Angeles's 2.0 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on cycling infrastructure. Los Angeles still holds an edge on motorbike/scooter efficiency.
Culture
Chicago's culture score of 4.4 sits well above Los Angeles's 4.2, with the biggest gap on history museums.
Nature & Outdoors
Los Angeles's nature & outdoors score of 4.0 sits well above Chicago's 3.5, with the biggest gap on surfing & watersports. Chicago still holds an edge on lakes & rivers.
Safety
Chicago's safety score is ~1.4× Los Angeles's — in the middle of the scale, while Los Angeles lands below average, with the biggest gap on wildfire safety.
Career
Chicago's career score of 4.7 sits well above Los Angeles's 4.4.
Social & Community
Chicago's social & community score of 4.0 sits well above Los Angeles's 3.6, with the biggest gap on local-first community.
Food & Dining
On food & dining, Los Angeles scores 4.8 vs Chicago's 4.6 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on restaurant variety.
Family
Chicago and Los Angeles score neck-and-neck on family (4.0 vs 4.0, 0–5 scale).
Healthcare
Chicago and Los Angeles score neck-and-neck on healthcare (2.8 vs 2.8, 0–5 scale).
Air Quality
Chicago averages 8.5 µg/m³ (good) PM2.5 annually versus Los Angeles's 13.8 µg/m³ (moderate) — Chicago breathes ~38% cleaner air (5.2 µg/m³ lower).
Chicago
Los Angeles
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Chicago (5.3M) and Los Angeles (13.5M) are 2.5x in population — Los Angeles is the larger metro, Chicago the smaller; on land area Los Angeles spans roughly 2.2x more ground.
Los Angeles is roughly 2.4x the scale of Chicago
Combined population & area comparison
Los AngelesChicagoCity Scale Rankings
Los Angeles13.5M2.5xChicago5.3M1xLos Angeles4,498 km²2.2xChicago2,046 km²1xChicago
Los Angeles
Who Thrives Here
Chicago favours the park & garden lover, while Los Angeles suits the sunshine lover. Both cities work well for the english speaker.
Also compared
Frequently asked about Chicago vs Los Angeles
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The best city depends on what matters to you
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