The link you cited is highly misleading. The Chicago metro area is a census tract of 10 million people. The City of Chicago is 2.7 million people. The Chicago school system and the Chicago teachers union disagree about how to compute the number, but CTU cites $71k and CPS cites $76k: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/06/12/how-much-do-chicago-p...

Also misleading from that link: Chicago's cost of living is right around the US average: http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/illinois/chica...

You are also required to live IN the city if you are a teacher in CPS. So you can't take that salary and escape to the suburbs after work.

Sure but the city of Chicago isn't very expensive. It's cheaper than the suburbs of say DC or NYC or SF by a good margin. $70k is a very good salary in the city. You can get a nice 2BR apartment in Lincoln Park (one of the more expensive areas) for only $1,600 per month. My studio Westchester costs almost that much!

Chicago teachers start around $51k with a bachelors. You can live better with that salary in Chicago than many Googlers earning $100k trying to live in SF...

That's not true anymore, the average 2BR cost has gone up to $1800-1900, even higher in places like Lincoln Park.

Where are you getting your data? I just moved from Chicago last year and my friends in Lincoln Park were paying around $1600 for a 2BR at Clark/Fullerton. Trulia suggests that this is not uncommon: http://www.trulia.com/for_rent/Chicago,IL/16_zm/41.920751,41...

Also, the average for places like Lincoln Park is skewed up by all the high-end housing in the area. Places like Andersonville and Edgewater are even cheaper, and very safe and family-friendly: http://www.trulia.com/rental/3102177710-5406-N-Kenmore-Ave-2...

Heck, last year I was paying $1450/month for a 1BR in a full-service high-rise in Streeterville with a 28th-floor view. My wife paid just around $1100 a month for a huge 1BR in Streeterville a couple of years ago. If you've got a roommate, it's totally possible to live in River North on a teacher's starting salary.

I paid 1600 for a two bedroom 1100sqft apartment in a nice area(wicker park) in 2011-2012. With no need for a car or car insurance it was more affordable than I expected.

I'm crying here. As a transplant from Chicago to SF, you'd be lucky to find a studio for that here (in a neighborhood as good as LP).