These Are The 10 Best Neighborhoods In Chicago For 2018


We used science and data to determine which neighborhoods in Chicago are the best of the best.

Brandon Mariotti, About HomeSnacks
December 20, 2017 - 356 views
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This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out.

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Do you like your neighborhood? Is it friendly, and where everyone knows their neighbors? No matter if you live in the sticks or in an apartment building in downtown Chicago, you have a little pocket that you can call home. And each neighborhood is different.

Smaller neighborhoods usually have obvious benefits — less crime, a slower pace of life, and a lower cost of living. But not all Chicago neighborhoods are created equal. Some are better than others. But which ones?

Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and find out which neighborhoods in Chicago are the best. If you’re in one of the places we’re about to highlight, odds are you know you’ve got it made.

Here are the best neighborhoods in Chicago for 2018:

  1. Edison Park
  2. Forest Glen
  3. Lincoln Park
  4. Lake View
  5. Near North Side
  6. North Center
  7. Norwood Park
  8. Beverly
  9. Loop
  10. West Town

Read on to see how we determined the places around Chicago that deserve a little bragging rights.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Illinois check out the best places in Illinois overall or the worst neighborhoods in Chicago.

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How do you determine the best neighborhoods in Chicago for 2018?

In order to rank the best neighborhoods in Chicago, we had to determine what criteria defines a ‘best’.

Using crime, census, and extrapolated BLS data, we arrived at the following set of criteria:

  • High incomes
  • Low unemployment rates
  • Low crime
  • High home prices
  • High population densities (A proxy for things to do)
These Are The 10 Best Places To Live In Illinois

We limited the analysis to neighborhoods with over 1,000 people.

We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 77 in each category, where 1 was the best.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a best neighborhood index.

And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest best neighborhood index the ‘Best City Neighborhood In Chicago.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Edison Park.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the best places Chicago has to offer. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from best to worst.

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1. Edison Park

Population: 10,818
Median Income: $90,852
Median Home Value: $326,580

2. Forest Glen

Population: 18,148
Median Income: $101,222
Median Home Value: $422,600

3. Lincoln Park

Population: 63,685
Median Income: $94,993
Median Home Value: $491,661

4. Lake View

Population: 95,881
Median Income: $81,886
Median Home Value: $383,336

5. Near North Side

Population: 81,359
Median Income: $90,036
Median Home Value: $413,085

6. North Center

Population: 34,804
Median Income: $92,806
Median Home Value: $496,500

7. Norwood Park

Population: 38,021
Median Income: $74,627
Median Home Value: $289,086

8. Beverly

Population: 20,993
Median Income: $94,107
Median Home Value: $284,345

9. Loop

Population: 28,280
Median Income: $92,187
Median Home Value: $397,629

10. West Town

Population: 84,915
Median Income: $72,318
Median Home Value: $400,940

Putting A Bow On Our Analysis Of Chicago

If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Chicago where crime is low and everyone wants to live, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious, here are the worst places in Chicago:

  1. East Garfield Park
  2. West Englewood
  3. West Garfield Park

For more reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Neighborhoods In Chicago

Neighborhood Rank Population Home Prices Crimes Per 100k Unemployment Rate
Edison Park 1 10,818 $326,580 1,719 4.5%
Forest Glen 2 18,148 $422,600 1,719 4.1%
Lincoln Park 3 63,685 $491,661 1,719 3.7%
Lake View 4 95,881 $383,336 1,719 3.6%
Near North Side 5 81,359 $413,085 1,719 4.9%
North Center 6 34,804 $496,500 1,719 3.7%
Norwood Park 7 38,021 $289,086 2,421 5.7%
Beverly 8 20,993 $284,345 2,016 5.3%
Loop 9 28,280 $397,629 1,719 3.8%
West Town 10 84,915 $400,940 1,719 6.0%
Logan Square 11 72,859 $335,070 2,052 5.3%
North Park 12 17,898 $301,123 2,848 6.4%
Mount Greenwood 13 18,314 $226,559 3,166 5.8%
Lincoln Square 14 39,389 $380,262 1,719 6.1%
Near South Side 15 20,952 $289,429 1,719 3.9%
Calumet Heights 16 13,329 $161,994 4,599 11.5%
Hyde Park 17 24,246 $275,148 2,541 5.1%
Edgewater 18 48,640 $252,083 2,817 6.5%
Garfield Ridge 19 34,592 $195,866 4,088 7.8%
Albany Park 20 52,544 $261,856 3,570 7.2%
Avalon Park 21 9,946 $149,500 4,991 13.0%
Avondale 22 38,798 $278,231 3,559 5.9%
Oakland 23 5,631 $180,533 4,704 18.0%
Irving Park 24 56,114 $278,961 3,179 6.5%
West Ridge 25 72,811 $238,570 3,871 6.3%
Washington Heights 26 26,229 $134,772 5,440 13.5%
Clearing 27 24,218 $177,338 4,632 7.2%
Jefferson Park 28 26,808 $274,418 2,911 6.9%
Morgan Park 29 23,822 $182,317 4,294 8.7%
Kenwood 30 14,610 $325,275 1,854 8.1%
Uptown 31 53,151 $224,063 3,112 7.3%
Ashburn 32 42,627 $160,250 4,847 8.6%
East Side 33 23,253 $121,188 5,806 11.6%
Rogers Park 34 53,103 $215,214 4,077 6.5%
O’Hare 35 13,934 $167,957 4,782 5.8%
Dunning 36 42,869 $235,753 3,757 6.4%
Pottage Park 37 64,201 $255,643 3,631 8.6%
Near West Side 38 58,252 $256,392 2,642 7.7%
Roseland 39 44,238 $117,793 5,851 13.0%
Hegewisch 40 9,232 $152,462 4,735 5.5%
Bridgeport 41 31,680 $269,319 3,522 9.1%
Douglas 42 18,266 $167,315 4,872 10.4%
Humboldt Park 43 54,089 $180,953 5,318 10.1%
South Chicago 44 28,036 $118,210 5,873 12.2%
Grand Crossing 45 32,583 $122,230 5,840 14.8%
Grand Boulevard 46 22,503 $181,704 4,674 15.0%
Archer Heights 47 13,978 $192,190 5,001 9.5%
South Shore 48 48,080 $179,090 4,939 13.7%
West Pullman 49 28,059 $113,508 5,974 14.1%
Austin 50 99,093 $166,135 5,373 12.1%
Pullman 51 6,913 $101,938 5,759 16.2%
Hermosa 52 24,592 $212,118 4,862 8.7%
New City 53 41,576 $127,708 6,114 15.4%
Gage Park 54 40,138 $131,578 6,097 11.0%
Belmont Cragin 55 78,761 $207,872 4,844 9.7%
Washington Park 56 11,647 $141,442 5,913 18.3%
Montclare 57 12,741 $196,400 4,651 7.9%
South Deering 58 15,532 $104,400 6,105 12.3%
Chicago Lawn 59 55,898 $127,751 6,050 13.6%
Mckinley Park 60 16,559 $213,175 4,567 9.6%
Lower West Side 61 34,986 $219,240 4,560 9.7%
West Elsdon 62 19,006 $163,020 5,395 8.8%
Englewood 63 27,122 $96,432 6,552 18.7%
West Lawn 64 33,202 $164,571 5,253 8.5%
Auburn Gresham 65 47,446 $131,604 5,738 15.3%
Armour Square 66 13,602 $244,012 4,463 9.2%
Chatham 67 31,252 $119,055 5,580 13.2%
Woodlawn 68 21,821 $137,768 5,672 12.3%
Brighton Park 69 44,112 $177,040 5,441 9.6%
North Lawndale 70 35,618 $136,123 6,002 12.0%
Fuller Park 71 2,508 $91,075 6,206 18.6%
Burnside 72 2,597 $120,400 5,987 8.2%
Riverdale 73 7,172 $23,943 6,874 23.8%
South Lawndale 74 72,433 $153,114 5,887 8.3%
West Garfield Park 75 18,664 $170,300 5,664 9.1%
West Englewood 76 34,129 $95,724 6,488 20.0%
East Garfield Park 77 20,134 $147,878 5,764 9.6%

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