Best PlacesChicago, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Chicago metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Chicago ranks 166th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $102,339, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state finances, taxes, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in the Chicago metro
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.
The best areas in Chicago
The towns and districts of the Chicago metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Aurora, Naperville & Wheaton
Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Evanston
Streets are more walkable and transit reaches more jobs.
Waukegan, Des Plaines & Arlington Heights
More adults hold degrees, though homes cost more.
Elgin, Schaumburg & Palatine
More residents vote, though biking is worse.
Joliet, Plainfield & Bolingbrook
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Orland Park, Tinley Park & Oak Lawn
Health care is easier to reach.
Downtown Chicago
Tree cover is thinner and it is noisier.
Cicero, Berwyn & Oak Park
Scores close to Downtown Chicago, except that prices have run up less here.
Valparaiso, Gary & Hammond
Health outcomes score lower.
Chicago shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Chicago lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Walkability is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Big-city access and cell coverage follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and long commutes also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Chicago ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of metro areas
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than 96% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than 96% of metro areas
Where Chicago ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 3% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of metro areas
- Short commute30.3 minutes each way, better than only 4% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 7% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Chicago
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $102,339; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Chicago's effective rate of 1.81%, 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 Chicago
Chicago's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chicago.
Who works in Chicago, and how
Work in Chicago centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Chicago
Chicago has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of metro areas and more parkland per resident than 70% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chicago and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chicago growing, and who is moving in?
Chicago has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chicago go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chicago, month by month
Chicago sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 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 Chicago
Schools across Chicago average a C, better than 23% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Skinner North Elem SchA+ · 87% proficient
- Edison Elem Regional Gifted CntrA+ · 83% proficient
- Keller Elem Gifted Magnet SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hickory Creek Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Daniel Wright Jr High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Carleton W Washburne SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Payton College Preparatory HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Northside College Preparatory HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Jones College Prep High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 Chicago against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Chicago suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of metro areas and 17% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Chicago
Is Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chicago ranks 166th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and cell coverage, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $354,549. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $102,339 median income, cost of living beats 87% of metro areas.
Is Chicago safe?
Chicago is safer than 12% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $381 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chicago?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 19. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chicago?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Aurora, Naperville & Wheaton, Evanston, and Waukegan, Des Plaines & Arlington Heights. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Chicago good for families?
Schools beat 23% of metro areas, crime safety beats 12%, and childcare runs $1,192 a month.
Is Chicago good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 47% of metro areas. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Chicago with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.