52fit
Lincoln Park
$2K median rent
Zoo, zoo-adjacent rents, and DePaul. The park is the brand; the side streets are the product.
Family streetsWaterfrontNightlifeWalk 25Safety 58
Chicago/Uptown
39fit
Uptown
Official community area: Uptown
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · CPD Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · OSM Aug 2026 · updated Sep 2026
Argyle, the Uptown Theatre, and a lakefront that never quite gentrified all the way. Density without Lake View prices.
buena park
Best in Chicago for familiesWalkable ChicagoUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
47
272 violent · 1622 property · 33.6 per 1k (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)-3 vs city set
Schools
33
Rating 6.8 / 10 nearby-15 vs city set
Walk
17
OSM: 24 groceries · 24 cafes · 185 transit · 188 parks-4 vs city set
Cost
100
$1,326 ACS median vs your rent budget+1 vs city set
Vibe
14
OSM: 24 cafes · 95 restaurants · 20 bars · 188 parks-5 vs city set
Commute to work
From Uptown, a typical weekday is 37 min to The Loop, 22 min to North Side, 49 min to West Loop. Not live traffic.
North Side is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
The Loop
37 min
Offices, Grant Park · at the city-set median
North Side
22 min
Lincoln Park, hospitals · -14 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
West Loop
49 min
Fulton Market · +12 min vs the city-set median
Minutes are baked from neighborhood geography to three job centers — not Google, not this hour’s traffic.
Cost of living
The ACS median rent is $1,326 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 22% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($74K) could “afford” about $1,848 a month at 30% of pay.
71% of households rent. Median home value is $331,132.
ACS median rent
$1,326
30% income budget
$1,848
Rent / income
22%
Median home
$331,132
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Chicago city. Up 50% since 2014. Uptown is 8% below the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. The dashed mark is this area’s ACS 2024 median.
HUD treats 30% of income as the cost-burden line. We do not split ACS rent into 1-bed vs 2-bed. Method.
Within a walk
Within a short walk of this official community area: 24 groceries, 24 cafes, 188 parks, and 185 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 188 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (185 stops or stations).
24 cafes and 95 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Chicago set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 12 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
56,344
Median age
37.4
Median income
$74K
Renters
71%
Bachelor+
61%
Violent / 1k
4.8
Property / 1k
28.8
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 12 census tracts · CPD Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · OSM 2026-08-31
Waterfront
Crime is CPD Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents — not a judgment of who lives here. Home and rent figures are ACS medians, not live MLS. Read the method.
On the ground
What it is like to live here, beyond the scores.
Uptown is Argyle’s Vietnamese strip, the Uptown Theatre, and a lakefront that never quite gentrified all the way. Density without Lake View prices. The CTA tangle (Red, Brown, Purple) is the amenity; the block-to-block variation is the homework.
Broadway can feel rough at night and alive at lunch. That is not a contradiction. Weight cost and transit. If you need the polished lakefront path of Lincoln Park, keep riding south. If you want a neighborhood that still has room for more than one Chicago, stay.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, Boston planning-neighborhood writing, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
Reported here lately
City 311 service requests in this official unit, last 14 days. This is what neighbors filed with the city — not a chat thread, and not part of the fit score.
352 reports
- Graffiti Removal103
- Rodent Baiting/Rat42
- Fly Dumping41
- Tree Trim40
- Finance Parking Code Enforcement Review39
- Graffiti Removal
- Rodent Baiting/Rat
- Tree Planting
- Tree Removal Inspection
- Finance Parking Code Enforcement Review
City of Chicago 311, last 14 days, by official community area number. Method.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/chicago that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
No r/chicago posts in this snapshot mentioned Uptown.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Uptown safe?
Uptown is middle of the pack for Part I here (safety 47 vs city 50). CPD logged 4.8 violent and 28.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 33.6 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Uptown?
ACS median rent is $1,326 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 71% of households rent. Median home value is $331,132. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Uptown walkable?
Walk is 17 here vs 21 for the Chicago set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 24 groceries, 24 cafes, 185 transit stops, 188 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Uptown good for families?
There is more night and visitor traffic in the mix — not the quietest family default. Nearby school rating is 6.8 / 10. Median age is 37.4. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Uptown?
37 typical weekday minutes to The Loop. Not the app on your phone this hour. Other job centers are further down this page.
How many people live in Uptown?
About 56,344 people. Median income $74K. 61% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Uptown?
Edgewater, Lake View, Rogers Park sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official community areas, start with Uptown vs Edgewater.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Uptown vs EdgewaterUptown vs Lake ViewUptown vs Rogers Park
48fit
Lake View
$2K median rent
Wrigley, Broadway, and the lakefront path. Nightlife is the tax; the Red Line is the amenity.
NightlifeWaterfrontWalk 21Safety 63
46fit
North Center
$2K median rent
Roscoe Village strollers and high home values. Quiet streets with a short hop to the river.
Family streetsWalk 3Safety 100
41fit
Edgewater
$1K median rent
Andersonville's Clark Street sits inside this community area. Beach to the east, bakeries to the west.
WaterfrontFamily streetsWalk 6Safety 79
37fit
Rogers Park
$1K median rent
The city's far-north beach and a mix of students, immigrants, and long leases. Quieter than Edgewater, cheaper than Lake View.
WaterfrontWalk 5Safety 74