The 10 Worst Chicago Suburbs

The 10 Worst Chicago Suburbs To Live For 2025

We’ll get the ball rolling with Robbins, the absolute worst place to live around Chicago according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Robbins beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the Chicago area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 3rd worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Robbins.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Welcome to East Chicago. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 17.6 miles to Chicago. Income levels here are the 4th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $41,071 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Chicago suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Gary on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Chicago suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

If you live in Dixmoor, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest Chicago suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 44th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Chicago. Remember, we looked at 164 cities for this study.

Dixmoor is about 14.1 miles to downtown.

Harvey has the distinction of being a Chicago suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Harvey has the 2nd lowest home values in the metro Chicago area, where the median price is $105,010. The median income is $250,001.

Harvey has an unemployment rate of 12.9% which ranks 9th worst.

South Chicago Heights has 3,934 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 23.27741935483871%.

Ah, Whiting. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Chicago.

It’s the place with the 12th most out of work residents in the Chicago metro area (11.97%).

Burnham is a city about 15.4 miles from Chicago, but Chicago probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Burnham has the 22nd most uninsured people, 11th worst incomes, and has the 2highest unemployment rate (9.93%) in the entire Chicago metro area.

Homes only cost $152,018 for a reason. That’s cheap for Chicago standards.

If you absolutely have to live near Chicago, then Lake Station might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Chicago suburb.

About 14.86% of residents are out of work.

Rounding out the ten worst Chicago suburbs to call home is New Chicago.

Located 28.6 miles outside the city, New Chicagos is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 28th highest unemployment rate (7.85%), and poverty is far above the area average.