Best PlacesThe Bush, Chicago, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around The Bush, 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.
The Bush, Chicago ranks 5,741st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on transit.
The best neighborhoods in The Bush, 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.
The Bush, Chicago's strengths and weaknesses
Where The Bush, Chicago ranks high
- TransitBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
Where The Bush, Chicago ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Household income$34,384 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in The Bush, Chicago
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median The Bush, Chicago home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $34,384, 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 The Bush, Chicago's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 The Bush, Chicago
The Bush, Chicago runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for The Bush, Chicago.
Who works in The Bush, Chicago, and how
Work in The Bush, Chicago centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in The Bush, Chicago
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across The Bush, Chicago.
What the weather is like in The Bush, Chicago, month by month
The Bush, Chicago sees roughly 83 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 The Bush, Chicago
Chicago Midway International sits about 11 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 The Bush, Chicago
Schools across The Bush, Chicago average a C+, better than 49% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Stem Magnet Academy ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Sullivan Elem SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Epic Academy High SchoolF · 4% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every The Bush, Chicago school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
The Bush, 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 The Bush, Chicago against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in The Bush, Chicago
Is The Bush, Chicago a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, The Bush, Chicago ranks 5,741st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on transit, biking, and low disaster risk, and lowest on crime and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is The Bush, Chicago expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,606. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $34,384 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is The Bush, Chicago safe?
The Bush, Chicago is safer than 2% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $924 per resident a year.
Compare The Bush, Chicago with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to The Bush, Chicago. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in The Bush, 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.
The Bush, Chicago detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for The Bush, Chicago: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in The Bush, Chicago: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of The Bush, Chicago: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in The Bush, Chicago: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
The Bush, 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.