Best PlacesLower West Side, Chicago, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lower West 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.
Lower West Side, Chicago ranks 3,101st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lower West 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.
Lower West Side, Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lower West Side, Chicago ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
Where Lower West Side, Chicago ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Lower West Side, Chicago
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lower West Side, Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,592, 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 Lower West Side, Chicago's effective rate of 1.51%, 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 Lower West Side, Chicago
Lower West Side, Chicago runs younger 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 Lower West Side, Chicago.
Who works in Lower West Side, Chicago, and how
Work in Lower West Side, Chicago centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 32%
Life in Lower West Side, Chicago
Lower West Side, Chicago has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Lower West Side, Chicago and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lower West Side, Chicago, month by month
Lower West Side, 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 Lower West Side, Chicago
Chicago Midway International sits about 6 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 Lower West Side, Chicago
Schools across Lower West Side, Chicago average a C+, better than 48% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Stem Magnet Academy ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Orozco Elem Fine Arts & SciencesC− · 30% proficient
- Barack H Obama Learning AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Evergreen Academy Elem SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Brooks Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Ihsca Charter High SchoolF · 3% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lower West Side, Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lower West 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 Lower West Side, Chicago against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Lower West Side, Chicago suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lower West Side, Chicago
Is Lower West Side, Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lower West Side, Chicago ranks 3,101st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, biking, and transit, and lowest on state finances and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lower West Side, Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $366,725. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $81,592 median income, cost of living beats 48% of neighborhoods.
Is Lower West Side, Chicago safe?
Lower West Side, Chicago is safer than 25% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $511 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lower West Side, Chicago?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 22. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of neighborhoods.
Is Lower West Side, Chicago good for families?
Schools beat 48% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $1,105 a month.
Compare Lower West Side, Chicago with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lower West Side, Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lower West 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.
Lower West Side, Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lower West Side, Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lower West Side, Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lower West Side, Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lower West Side, Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lower West 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.