Best PlacesEast Side, Chicago, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Side, 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 Side, Chicago ranks 4,389th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Side, 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 Side, Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Side, Chicago ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
Where East Side, Chicago ranks low
- Short commute37.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in East Side, Chicago
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Side, Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,220, 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 Side, Chicago's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 5 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 Side, Chicago
East Side, Chicago runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Side, Chicago.
Who works in East Side, Chicago, and how
Work in East Side, Chicago centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in East Side, Chicago
East Side, Chicago has more parkland per resident than 85% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of East Side, Chicago and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Side, Chicago, month by month
East Side, Chicago sees roughly 69 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 Side, Chicago
Chicago Midway International sits about 13 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 Side, Chicago
Schools across East Side, Chicago average a C+, better than 49% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Stem Magnet Academy ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Washington G Elem SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Addams Elem SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Washington G High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Side, Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Side, 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 Side, Chicago against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who East Side, Chicago suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in East Side, Chicago
Is East Side, Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Side, Chicago ranks 4,389th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on a stable housing market, biking, and low disaster risk, and lowest on long commutes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Side, Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,656. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $67,220 median income, cost of living beats 39% of neighborhoods.
Is East Side, Chicago safe?
East Side, Chicago is safer than 33% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $452 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in East Side, Chicago?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 22. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of neighborhoods.
Is East Side, Chicago good for families?
Schools beat 49% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $1,105 a month.
Compare East Side, Chicago with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Side, Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Side, 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 Side, Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Side, Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Side, Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Side, Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Side, Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Side, 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.