Best PlacesEast Chicago, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East 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.
East Chicago ranks 2,087th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East 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.
East Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Chicago ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of cities
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 83% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 81% of cities
Where East Chicago ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Household income$46,626 median, better than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in East Chicago
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,626, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 East Chicago's effective rate of 0.90%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Chicago
East Chicago runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Chicago.
Who works in East Chicago, and how
Work in East Chicago centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in East Chicago
East Chicago has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of East Chicago and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Chicago, month by month
East Chicago sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 83° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of East Chicago
Chicago Midway International sits about 18 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 East Chicago
Schools across East Chicago average a D−, better than 2% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Nathan Hale Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- East Chicago Urban Enterprise AcademyD− · 14% proficient
- Warren G Harding Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Whiting Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Henry W Eggers Middle SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- Charles N Scott Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Whiting High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- East Chicago Central High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Morton Senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East 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 East Chicago against the other 2,097 cities.
Who East Chicago suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in East Chicago
Is East Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Chicago ranks 2,087th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and low disaster risk, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $108,920. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $46,626 median income, cost of living beats 1% of cities.
Is East Chicago safe?
East Chicago is safer than 0% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $746 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in East Chicago?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 22. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of cities.
Is East Chicago good for families?
Schools beat 2% of cities, crime safety beats 0%, and childcare runs $873 a month.
Compare East Chicago with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East 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.
East Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East 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.