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Everything else equal, I think we can all agree that living in a cheaper place is better than living in a more expensive place.
I'd much rather pay $500/mo in rent than $1,000. And I'd rather pay $2 for coffee than $5.
And while every neighbhorhood in Chicago might be more expensive than living in rural Illinois, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
So what exactly are those Chicago neighborhoods where your dollar goes a little further -- you can get that one bedroom instead of the studio?
Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and find out which neighborhoods in Chicago are the cheapest.
The Cheapest Neighborhoods In Chicago For 2022
What's the cheapest neighborhood to live in Chicago for 2022? According to the most recent census data, Ashburn looks to be the cheaptest Chicago neighborhood to live in.
At this point we should make it clear that you do get what you pay for -- some of these neighborhoods might not be the best places to live in Chicago. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates in return for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Chicago that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you're interested in the worst neighborhoods in Chicago.
Once you're done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from cheapest to most expensive.
For more Illinois reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Illinois
- Cheapest Places To Live In Illinois
- Cheapest Cities To Live In America
- Cheapest States To Live In America
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Chicago For 2022
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Population: 43,133
Cost Of Living Index: 99 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.007 (6th cheapest)
More on Ashburn: Homes For Sale | Data
/10
Population: 9,039
Cost Of Living Index: 99 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (8th cheapest)
More on Hegewisch: Homes For Sale | Data
/10
Population: 18,990
Cost Of Living Index: 105 (40th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.005 (2nd cheapest)
More on Mount Greenwood: Homes For Sale | Data
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Population: 24,934
Cost Of Living Index: 100 (26th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (9th cheapest)
More on Clearing: Homes For Sale | Data
/10
Population: 6,565
Cost Of Living Index: 93 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (33rd cheapest)
More on Pullman: Homes For Sale | Data
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Population: 35,441
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (34th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.9 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.008 (7th cheapest)
More on Garfield Ridge: Homes For Sale | Data
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Population: 14,598
Cost Of Living Index: 92 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (5cheapest)
More on South Deering: Homes For Sale | Data
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Population: 33,314
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (34th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.1 (18th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (10th cheapest)
More on West Lawn: Homes For Sale | Data
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Population: 23,647
Cost Of Living Index: 106 (44th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (11th cheapest)
More on Morgan Park: Homes For Sale | Data
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Population: 26,845
Cost Of Living Index: 101 (30th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (30th cheapest)
More on Washington Heights: Homes For Sale | Data
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Chicago Hoods In 2022
In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Chicago, we had to determine what criteria defines "cheap".
Using census and extrapolated BLS data, we arrived at the following set of criteria:
- Overall Cost Of Living
- Rent To Income Ratio
- Median Home Value To Income Ratio
We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 77 in each category, where 1 was the cheapest.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a cheap neighborhood index.
And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest cheapest neighborhood index the "Cheapest City Neighborhood In Chicago." We're lookin' at you, Ashburn.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the cheapest places Chicago. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from cheapest to most expensive.
Summary: Lowest Cost Places To Live In Chicago
If you're measuring the neighborhoods in Chicago where prices are low and it's cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Chicago aren't all cheap. Armour Square takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Chicago.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Illinois reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois
- Richest Cities In Illinois
- Safest Places In Illinois
- Worst Places To Live In Illinois