Living-cost signal
Chicago has the lower current midpoint
Use this as a directional reference, not a guaranteed personal budget.
SECONDARY DECISION
Compare city context
Comparison does not replace the verdict. Use it to test real options after reviewing the Career Page score, evidence and path.
United States city comparison
Chicago vs New York
Compare approved named-city student living, transport, F-1 work context, canonical institutions and local career sectors. Metro areas and neighbouring municipalities are not silently merged into these city scopes.
Student living
Indicative monthly USD references from official university budgets; source scenarios differ.
Chicago~$3,167 / month
New York~$3,437 / month
Student transport
Source-native periods are preserved. A 7-day cap, semester pass and monthly pass are not treated as equivalent products.
Chicago$75 / 30 days
New York$35 / rolling 7 days
F-1 student work
20 hours/week is the on-campus academic-session limit. Off-campus employment requires separate authorization.
Chicago20 h / week on-campus
New York20 h / week on-campus
Canonical institutions
Chicago65
New York73
Canonical campus locations
Chicago65
New York73
City population
Named-city population, not metropolitan-area population.
Chicago2.73M
New York8.58M
Career context
Official economic-development focus sectors, not shortage rankings.
ChicagoLife science and healthcare · Food and agtech · Transportation and logistics · Manufacturing · Fintech
New YorkFinance · Media · Technology · Life sciences · Green economy
Programme coverage
Canonical U.S. programme catalogue pending
CampCareer does not infer programme delivery from institution presence. A missing catalogue is not presented as “0 programmes”.