Best PlacesArmour Square, Chicago, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Armour Square, Chicago, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Armour Square, Chicago ranks 4,989th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Armour Square, Chicago
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Armour Square, Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Where Armour Square, Chicago ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Armour Square, Chicago ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Armour Square, Chicago
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Armour Square, Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $52,267, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Armour Square, Chicago's effective rate of 1.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Armour Square, Chicago
Armour Square, Chicago runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Armour Square, Chicago.
Who works in Armour Square, Chicago, and how
Work in Armour Square, Chicago centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 63%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in Armour Square, Chicago
Armour Square, Chicago has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Armour Square, Chicago and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Armour Square, Chicago, month by month
Armour Square, Chicago sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 70° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Armour Square, Chicago
Chicago Midway International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Armour Square, Chicago
Schools across Armour Square, Chicago average a C+, better than 49% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Stem Magnet Academy ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Haines Elem SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Ward J Elem SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Air Force Acad High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Armour Square, Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Armour Square, Chicago measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Armour Square, Chicago against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Armour Square, Chicago
Is Armour Square, Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Armour Square, Chicago ranks 4,989th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and big-city access, and lowest on noise and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Armour Square, Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,482. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $52,267 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Armour Square, Chicago safe?
Armour Square, Chicago is safer than 16% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $579 per resident a year.
Compare Armour Square, Chicago with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Armour Square, Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Armour Square, Chicago represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Armour Square, Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Armour Square, Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Armour Square, Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Armour Square, Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Armour Square, Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Armour Square, Chicago detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.