Best PlacesNew Chicago, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New 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.
New Chicago ranks 43,499th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New 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.
New Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Chicago ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where New Chicago ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Chicago
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,708, 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 New Chicago's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Chicago
New Chicago runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Chicago.
Who works in New Chicago, and how
Work in New Chicago centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in New Chicago
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Chicago.
What the weather is like in New Chicago, month by month
New 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 New Chicago
Chicago Midway International sits about 30 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 New Chicago
Schools across New Chicago average a D+, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Veterans Elementary School At MundellC− · 29% proficient
- John I Meister Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Virgil I Bailey Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hobart Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- River Forest Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Hobart High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- River Forest High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Thomas A Edison Jr-sr HsD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New 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 New Chicago against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Chicago
Is New Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Chicago ranks 43,499th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and fast internet, and lowest on civic engagement and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $130,795. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $54,708 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is New Chicago safe?
New Chicago is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $592 per resident a year.
Compare New Chicago with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New 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.
New Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New 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.