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Not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Chicago.
So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?
Today, we'll use science and data to determine which Chicago 'burbs need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the Chicago area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the suburbs to live up to Chicago proper, although Western Springs certainly tries.
Of course, not all suburbs of Chicago are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..
We examined the 166 biggest suburbs of Chicago to find out the worst places to live. And while you won't necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Illinois lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Chicago in terms of quality of life.
Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Chicago for 2022:
- Lake Station
- Dixmoor
- East Chicago
- Ford Heights
- Gary
- Harvey
- Chicago Heights
- Robbins
- South Chicago Heights
- Burnham
What's the worst suburb of Chicago? Lake Station ranks as the worst suburb of Chicago for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Chicago that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don't blame the messenger.
Or, if you're thinking of moving to elsewhere in Illinois check out the best places in Illinois overall or the worst.
And remember, there are some good places to live around Chicago too.
Editor's Note: If you see a slight difference between the worst in state rankings and this suburb ranking, it's because of the methodology. We needed a way to include more places, so we eliminated crime and commute times as criteria for this analysis.
For more Illinois reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Illinois
- Cheapest Places To Live In Illinois
- Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois
The 10 Worst Chicago Suburbs To Live For 2022
1. Lake Station
We'll get the ball rolling with Lake Station, the absolute worst place to live around Chicago according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Lake Station beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 15th worst in the Chicago area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 9th 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 Lake Station.
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.
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Population: 11,952
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 2)
Median Income: $48,585 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 16.5% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $86,100 (9th lowest)
More on Lake Station:
Welcome to Dixmoor. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 14.1 miles to Chicago. Income levels here are the 8th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $44,757 a year, which doesn't go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
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3. East Chicago
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Chicago suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see East Chicago 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 drop out rate is poor compared to other Chicago suburbs.
But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.
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Population: 28,044
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $35,396 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.5% (30th highest)
Median Home Value: $73,100 (5th lowest)
More on East Chicago:
If you live in Ford Heights, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 5th lowest Chicago suburb when it comes to residents making money.
Not only that, but this is the worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Chicago. Remember, we looked at 166 cities for this study.
Ford Heights is about 23.1 miles to downtown.
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5. Gary
Gary has the distinction of being a Chicago suburb. Which means that's about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Gary has the 3rd lowest home values in the metro Chicago area, where the median price is $68,400. To put that into perspective, in Western Springs, the median income is $250,001, which is the best in the area.
Gary has an unemployment rate of 12.7% which ranks 13th worst.
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Population: 75,486
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $31,315 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.7% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $68,400 (3rd lowest)
More on Gary:
Harvey has 24,295 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 31.07922645040549%.
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Ah, Chicago Heights. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Chicago.
It's the place with the 11th most out of work residents in the Chicago metro area (13.13%).
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Robbins is a city about 13.5 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. Robbins has the 34th most uninsured people, 4th worst incomes, and has the 14th highest unemployment rate (12.62%) in the entire Chicago metro area.
Homes only cost $83,200 for a reason. That's cheap for Chicago standards.
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Population: 5,068
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $35,815 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.6% (14th highest)
Median Home Value: $83,200 (8th lowest)
More on Robbins: Data
If you absolutely have to live near Chicago, then South Chicago Heights might be a place for you to consider as it's only the 9th worst Chicago suburb.
About 7.32% of residents are out of work.
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Rounding out the ten worst Chicago suburbs to call home is Burnham.
Located 15.4 miles outside the city, Burnhams is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 23rd highest unemployment rate (9.65%), and poverty is far above the area average.
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Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Chicago for 2022
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2016-2020, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school drop outs
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Chicago.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 166 suburbs to evaluate around Chicago.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 166 in each category, where 1 was the "worst".
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index the "Worst Suburb near Chicago." We're lookin' at you, Lake Station. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.
Summary: The areas around Chicago where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2022
Well there you have it -- the worst of the 'burbs surrounding Chicago with Lake Station casting itself ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Chicago aren't all bad. Western Springs takes the cake as the best place to live around Chicago.
- Western Springs
- Wilmette
- Glencoe
For more Illinois reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In Illinois
- Richest Cities In Illinois
- Safest Places In Illinois
- Worst Places To Live In Illinois
Detailed List Of The Worst Chicago Suburbs
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Lake Station | 11,952 |
2 | Dixmoor | 3,570 |
3 | East Chicago | 28,044 |
4 | Ford Heights | 2,705 |
5 | Gary | 75,486 |
6 | Harvey | 24,295 |
7 | Chicago Heights | 29,598 |
8 | Robbins | 5,068 |
9 | South Chicago Heights | 4,042 |
10 | Burnham | 4,121 |
11 | Whiting | 4,801 |
12 | Markham | 12,401 |
13 | Hammond | 76,141 |
14 | Riverdale | 12,530 |
15 | Blue Island | 23,160 |
16 | Summit | 11,171 |
17 | Dolton | 22,487 |
18 | Posen | 5,772 |
19 | Steger | 9,289 |
20 | Northlake | 12,235 |
21 | Bridgeview | 15,576 |
22 | Glenwood | 8,846 |
23 | Melrose Park | 25,404 |
24 | Rosemont | 4,173 |
25 | Thornton | 2,308 |
26 | Crest Hill | 20,388 |
27 | Maywood | 23,351 |
28 | Lansing | 27,614 |
29 | Calumet Park | 8,383 |
30 | West Chicago | 26,998 |
31 | Stone Park | 4,842 |
32 | Franklin Park | 17,779 |
33 | Worth | 10,544 |
34 | Cicero | 81,471 |
35 | Justice | 12,677 |
36 | Chicago Ridge | 14,028 |
37 | Country Club Hills | 16,564 |
38 | Park Forest | 20,715 |
39 | Countryside | 5,929 |
40 | South Holland | 21,451 |
41 | Matteson | 19,374 |
42 | Alsip | 18,843 |
43 | Schiller Park | 11,499 |
44 | Richton Park | 13,381 |
45 | Hillside | 7,937 |
46 | Bellwood | 18,799 |
47 | University Park | 7,224 |
48 | Broadview | 7,677 |
49 | Hazel Crest | 13,918 |
50 | Burbank | 28,447 |
51 | Hanover Park | 37,811 |
52 | Addison | 36,714 |
53 | Berwyn | 54,850 |
54 | Hometown | 4,216 |
55 | Bensenville | 18,273 |
56 | Lyons | 10,338 |
57 | Glendale Heights | 33,863 |
58 | Crestwood | 10,762 |
59 | Crete | 8,058 |
60 | Palos Hills | 17,172 |
61 | Romeoville | 39,644 |
62 | Lynwood | 9,210 |
63 | River Grove | 9,957 |
64 | Oak Lawn | 55,432 |
65 | Prospect Heights | 15,986 |
66 | Wheeling | 38,684 |
67 | Griffith | 16,198 |
68 | Niles | 29,198 |
69 | Warrenville | 13,137 |
70 | Stickney | 6,607 |
71 | Wood Dale | 13,783 |
72 | Hickory Hills | 14,253 |
73 | Oakbrook Terrace | 2,909 |
74 | Bolingbrook | 74,319 |
75 | Highwood | 5,293 |
76 | Des Plaines | 58,316 |
77 | Rolling Meadows | 23,288 |
78 | North Riverside | 6,460 |
79 | Harwood Heights | 8,393 |
80 | Schererville | 28,559 |
81 | Berkeley | 5,079 |
82 | Midlothian | 14,464 |
83 | Palatine | 67,875 |
84 | Streamwood | 39,917 |
85 | Elmwood Park | 24,274 |
86 | Carol Stream | 39,447 |
87 | Flossmoor | 9,318 |
88 | Skokie | 63,300 |
89 | Forest Park | 13,808 |
90 | Homewood | 18,656 |
91 | Olympia Fields | 5,028 |
92 | Monee | 5,080 |
93 | Tinley Park | 56,082 |
94 | Oak Forest | 27,403 |
95 | Westmont | 24,677 |
96 | Lockport | 25,499 |
97 | Villa Park | 22,087 |
98 | Norridge | 14,465 |
99 | Bloomingdale | 21,905 |
100 | Hoffman Estates | 50,464 |