Best PlacesColonial Gardens, Chicago, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Colonial Gardens, Chicago, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Colonial Gardens, Chicago ranks 2,278th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Colonial Gardens, 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.
Colonial Gardens, Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Where Colonial Gardens, Chicago ranks high
- TransitBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of neighborhoods
Where Colonial Gardens, Chicago ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 51 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Short commute35.4 minutes each way, better than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Colonial Gardens, Chicago
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colonial Gardens, Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $96,155; 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 Colonial Gardens, Chicago's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 Colonial Gardens, Chicago
Colonial Gardens, Chicago runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Colonial Gardens, Chicago.
Who works in Colonial Gardens, Chicago, and how
Work in Colonial Gardens, Chicago centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Colonial Gardens, Chicago
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Colonial Gardens, Chicago.
What the weather is like in Colonial Gardens, Chicago, month by month
Colonial Gardens, Chicago sees roughly 51 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 Colonial Gardens, Chicago
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Colonial Gardens, Chicago
Schools across Colonial Gardens, Chicago average a C+, better than 49% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Stem Magnet Academy ElemB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colonial Gardens, Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colonial Gardens, 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 Colonial Gardens, Chicago against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Colonial Gardens, Chicago
Is Colonial Gardens, Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colonial Gardens, Chicago ranks 2,278th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on transit, big-city access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Colonial Gardens, Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $381,369. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $96,155 median income, cost of living beats 68% of neighborhoods.
Is Colonial Gardens, Chicago safe?
Colonial Gardens, Chicago is safer than 49% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $353 per resident a year.
Compare Colonial Gardens, Chicago with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colonial Gardens, Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colonial Gardens, 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.
Colonial Gardens, Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colonial Gardens, Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colonial Gardens, Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colonial Gardens, Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colonial Gardens, Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colonial Gardens, 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.