Community areas of Chicago

Chicago is officially divided into 77 community areas. These areas help organize the city for planning and studying different parts of Chicago. Each area has its own set of facts, making it easier to compare over time. While these areas are different from the many neighborhoods in Chicago, they often match one neighborhood or include several smaller ones.

The idea of community areas started in the 1920s at the University of Chicago. Sociologists Robert E. Park and Ernest Burgess believed that areas with similar features would naturally develop a shared identity. Except for two areas added later—O'Hare from land annexed in 1956 and Edgewater separated from Uptown in 1980—the boundaries have stayed the same. This stability has made these areas an important part of Chicago's culture, helping the city be seen as a "city of neighborhoods."

Some people have questioned whether areas with similar features always create a shared identity, especially since the city has changed in many ways over time. Still, these community areas remain a key way to understand and plan for different parts of Chicago. As of 2020, Near North Side is the most populous area, while Burnside has the fewest residents. Other ways Chicago is divided include the "sides" based on the Chicago River, the 50 wards of the Chicago City Council, and church parishes.

History

In the 1800s, the Census Bureau used areas called wards to collect data. These wards changed often, making it hard to compare information over time. In 1910, Chicago began using smaller areas called census tracts.

Later, a group at the University of Chicago wanted better ways to understand the city. They used natural features like railroads and the Chicago River to create consistent areas.

Two important people, Robert E. Park and Ernest Burgess, helped form these areas. They started with many small neighborhoods and grouped them into 75 larger community areas. These areas have been used to track important information about the city, like health data.

Only a few changes have been made to these areas. One change happened in 1956 when land was added to create an area around O'Hare International Airport. In 1980, Edgewater was separated from Uptown to better help the community. There have also been small changes along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Use and reception

The community areas in Chicago help people understand and plan the city. Many groups use them, including researchers, people who help others, and news reporters. These areas are used for many kinds of information, like where movies were shown and studies about young people.

Even though these areas were created by the University of Chicago, other schools, city planners, and the city itself use them too. They help make Chicago feel like a collection of friendly neighborhoods instead of one big, overwhelming city. Chicago was one of the first cities to use this kind of system, and many cities in the United States still don’t have something similar.

These areas don’t always match what people commonly think of as neighborhoods. For example, areas like Pilsen and Back of the Yards are well-known, but their official community areas are called Lower West Side and New City. Sometimes, the names used for these areas are older and have changed over time. While keeping the same boundaries can be helpful, it can also cause problems.

List of community areas

Chicago community areas by number, population, and area
No.	Name	Population	Area		Density
No.	Name	(2023)	(sq mi.)	(km²)	(/sq mi.)	(/km²)
01	Rogers Park	54,388	1.84	4.77	29,558.7	11,412.61
02	West Ridge	78,227	3.53	9.14	22,160.62	8,556.22
03	Uptown	57,331	2.32	6.01	24,711.64	9,541.16
04	Lincoln Square	41,673	2.56	6.63	16,278.52	6,285.13
05	North Center	35,408	2.05	5.31	17,272.2	6,668.79
06	Lake View	101,163	3.12	8.08	32,424.04	12,518.92
07	Lincoln Park	67,831	3.16	8.18	21,465.51	8,287.83
08	Near North Side	104,712	2.74	7.1	38,216.06	14,755.22
09	Edison Park	11,203	1.13	2.93	9,914.16	3,827.86
10	Norwood Park	38,895	4.37	11.32	8,900.46	3,436.47
11	Jefferson Park	26,643	2.33	6.03	11,434.76	4,414.96
12	Forest Glen	19,517	3.2	8.29	6,099.06	2,354.85
13	North Park	18,742	2.52	6.53	7,437.3	2,871.54
14	Albany Park	46,620	1.92	4.97	24,281.25	9,374.99
15	Portage Park	61,793	3.95	10.23	15,643.8	6,040.07
16	Irving Park	53,832	3.21	8.31	16,770.09	6,474.93
17	Dunning	41,816	3.72	9.63	11,240.86	4,340.1
18	Montclare	14,084	0.99	2.56	14,226.26	5,492.76
19	Belmont Cragin	72,918	3.91	10.13	18,649.1	7,200.42
20	Hermosa	22,776	1.17	3.03	19,466.67	7,516.08
21	Avondale	35,489	1.98	5.13	17,923.74	6,920.36
22	Logan Square	70,869	3.59	9.3	19,740.67	7,621.87
23	Humboldt Park	55,598	3.6	9.32	15,443.89	5,962.89
24	West Town	86,598	4.58	11.86	18,907.86	7,300.32
25	Austin	98,882	7.15	18.52	13,829.65	5,339.63
26	West Garfield Park	15,619	1.28	3.32	12,202.34	4,711.32
27	East Garfield Park	20,526	1.93	5	10,635.23	4,106.26
28	Near West Side	66,084	5.69	14.74	11,614.06	4,484.19
29	North Lawndale	31,244	3.21	8.31	9,733.33	3,758.04
30	South Lawndale	68,798	4.59	11.89	14,988.67	5,787.13
31	Lower West Side	33,279	2.93	7.59	11,358.02	4,385.33
32	Loop	42,181	1.65	4.27	25,564.24	9,870.35
33	Near South Side	29,174	1.78	4.61	16,389.89	6,328.14
34	Armour Square	14,239	1	2.59	14,239	5,497.68
35	Douglas	21,756	1.65	4.27	13,185.45	5,090.9
36	Oakland	6,946	0.58	1.5	11,975.86	4,623.88
37	Fuller Park	2,221	0.71	1.84	3,128.17	1,207.79
38	Grand Boulevard	26,345	1.74	4.51	15,140.8	5,845.86
39	Kenwood	18,138	1.04	2.69	17,440.38	6,733.73
40	Washington Park	13,111	1.52	3.94	8,625.66	3,330.37
41	Hyde Park	29,591	1.61	4.17	18,379.5	7,096.33
42	Woodlawn	23,956	2.07	5.36	11,572.95	4,468.31
43	South Shore	54,345	2.93	7.59	18,547.78	7,161.3
44	Chatham	30,783	2.95	7.64	10,434.92	4,028.92
45	Avalon Park	9,447	1.25	3.24	7,557.6	2,917.99
46	South Chicago	29,381	3.34	8.65	8,796.71	3,396.41
47	Burnside	2,148	0.61	1.58	3,521.31	1,359.58
48	Calumet Heights	11,645	1.75	4.53	6,654.29	2,569.22
49	Roseland	36,700	4.82	12.48	7,614.11	2,939.81
50	Pullman	6,741	2.12	5.49	3,179.72	1,227.69
51	South Deering	14,210	10.9	28.23	1,303.67	503.35
52	East Side	22,722	2.98	7.72	7,624.83	2,943.95
53	West Pullman	24,470	3.56	9.22	6,873.6	2,653.9
54	Riverdale	7,536	3.53	9.14	2,134.84	824.26
55	Hegewisch	9,042	5.24	13.57	1,725.57	666.24
56	Garfield Ridge	36,426	4.23	10.96	8,611.35	3,324.84
57	Archer Heights	14,021	2.01	5.21	6,975.62	2,693.29
58	Brighton Park	42,062	2.72	7.04	15,463.97	5,970.64
59	McKinley Park	15,443	1.41	3.65	10,952.48	4,228.75
60	Bridgeport	33,091	2.09	5.41	15,833.01	6,113.13
61	New City	41,790	4.83	12.51	8,652.17	3,340.6
62	West Elsdon	18,568	1.17	3.03	15,870.09	6,127.44
63	Gage Park	35,691	2.2	5.7	16,223.18	6,263.77
64	Clearing	24,924	2.55	6.6	9,774.12	3,773.79
65	West Lawn	32,649	2.95	7.64	11,067.46	4,273.15
66	Chicago Lawn	53,460	3.53	9.14	15,144.48	5,847.28
67	West Englewood	26,729	3.15	8.16	8,485.4	3,276.21
68	Englewood	21,411	3.07	7.95	6,974.27	2,692.76
69	Greater Grand Crossing	29,563	3.55	9.19	8,327.61	3,215.29
70	Ashburn	42,079	4.86	12.59	8,658.23	3,342.94
71	Auburn Gresham	45,049	3.77	9.76	11,949.34	4,613.64
72	Beverly	19,570	3.18	8.24	6,154.09	2,376.09
73	Washington Heights	25,312	2.86	7.41	8,850.35	3,417.12
74	Mount Greenwood	18,553	2.71	7.02	6,846.13	2,643.29
75	Morgan Park	21,325	3.3	8.55	6,462.12	2,495.03
76	O'Hare	14,004	13.34	34.55	1,049.78	405.32
77	Edgewater	56,146	1.74	4.51	32,267.82	12,458.6
Total	Chicago	2,707,648	227.34	588.81	11,910.13	4,598.5

Community Area Demographics

Data as of 2023

Chicago community areas by racial makeup. All are non-Hispanic unless listed otherwise
No.	Name	Total Population	White	Hispanic/Latino	Black	Asian	Other/Multiple Races	% White	% Hispanic/Latino	% Black	% Asian	% Other/Multiple Races
1	Rogers Park	54,388	24,262	11,466	12,650	3,136	2,874	44.6	21.1	23.3	5.8	5.3
2	West Ridge	78,227	30,298	17,106	9,155	17,031	4,637	38.7	21.9	11.7	21.8	5.9
3	Uptown	57,331	29,195	8,025	11,470	5,970	2,671	50.9	14.0	20.0	10.4	4.7
4	Lincoln Square	41,673	25,378	8,272	1,850	3,823	2,350	60.9	19.8	4.4	9.2	5.6
5	North Center	35,408	25,892	4,699	775	2,189	1,853	73.1	13.3	2.2	6.2	5.2
6	Lake View	101,163	75,071	9,840	4,860	6,978	4,414	74.2	9.7	4.8	6.9	4.4
7	Lincoln Park	67,831	52,781	5,120	2,121	5,082	2,727	77.8	7.5	3.1	7.5	4.0
8	Near North Side	104,712	69,339	7,831	9,069	14,097	4,376	66.2	7.5	8.7	13.5	4.2
9	Edison Park	11,203	9,039	1,542	45	190	387	80.7	13.8	0.4	1.7	3.5
10	Norwood Park	38,895	27,445	7,135	373	2,819	1,122	70.6	18.3	1.0	7.2	2.9
11	Jefferson Park	26,643	15,310	6,927	611	3,204	591	57.5	26.0	2.3	12.0	2.2
12	Forest Glen	19,517	14,223	2,342	184	1,999	769	72.9	12.0	0.9	10.2	3.9
13	North Park	18,742	7,828	3,300	958	5,994	662	41.8	17.6	5.1	32.0	3.5
14	Albany Park	46,620	15,530	20,723	1,761	7,014	1,592	33.3	44.5	3.8	15.0	3.4
15	Portage Park	61,793	29,898	25,560	850	3,340	2,145	48.4	41.4	1.4	5.4	3.5
16	Irving Park	53,832	23,397	21,765	1,947	4,609	2,114	43.5	40.4	3.6	8.6	3.9
17	Dunning	41,816	22,674	14,815	912	2,394	1,021	54.2	35.4	2.2	5.7	2.4
18	Montclare	14,084	4,493	8,093	1,040	362	96	31.9	57.5	7.4	2.6	0.7
19	Belmont Cragin	72,918	9,546	57,695	2,389	2,067	1,221	13.1	79.1	3.3	2.8	1.7
20	Hermosa	22,776	2,650	18,649	780	468	229	11.6	81.9	3.4	2.1	1.0
21	Avondale	35,489	13,220	18,169	1,011	1,703	1,386	37.3	51.2	2.8	4.8	3.9
22	Logan Square	70,869	36,487	24,462	3,769	3,462	2,689	51.5	34.5	5.3	4.9	3.8
22	Humboldt Park	55,598	6,573	28,982	17,755	1,336	952	11.8	52.1	31.9	2.4	1.7
24	West Town	86,598	54,722	17,180	4,599	5,291	4,806	63.2	19.8	5.3	6.1	5.5
25	Austin	98,882	5,558	20,417	70,285	591	2,031	5.6	20.6	71.1	0.6	2.1
26	West Garfield Park	15,619	281	904	14,322	28	84	1.8	5.8	91.7	0.2	0.5
27	East Garfield Park	20,526	1,355	1,699	17,075	121	276	6.6	8.3	83.2	0.6	1.3
28	Near West Side	66,084	28,248	7,207	16,267	11,211	3,151	42.7	10.9	24.6	17.0	4.8
29	North Lawndale	31,244	1,605	4,994	23,801	120	724	5.1	16.0	76.2	0.4	2.3
30	South Lawndale	68,798	3,985	55,722	8,411	464	216	5.8	81.0	12.2	0.7	0.3
31	Lower West Side	33,279	7,309	22,778	1,101	1,200	891	22.0	68.4	3.3	3.6	2.7
32	Loop	42,181	21,467	5,093	3,940	9,967	1,714	50.9	12.1	9.3	23.6	4.1
33	Near South Side	29,174	14,654	2,116	6,160	4,981	1,263	50.2	7.3	21.1	17.1	4.3
34	Armour Square	14,239	2,218	724	1,732	9,060	505	15.6	5.1	12.2	63.6	3.5
35	Douglas	21,756	1,980	1,578	13,810	2,951	1,437	9.1	7.3	63.5	13.6	6.6
36	Oakland	6,946	410	366	5,853	34	283	5.9	5.3	84.3	0.5	4.1
37	Fuller Park	2,221	53	236	1,699	25	208	2.4	10.6	76.5	1.1	9.4
38	Grand Boulevard	26,345	1,847	1,200	21,622	117	1,559	7.0	4.6	82.1	0.4	5.9
39	Kenwood	18,138	3,489	644	11,786	1,092	1,127	19.2	3.6	65.0	6.0	6.2
40	Washington Park	13,111	204	184	12,444	10	269	1.6	1.4	94.9	0.1	2.1
41	Hyde Park	29,591	11,889	2,365	8,292	4,581	2,464	40.2	8.0	28.0	15.5	8.3
42	Woodlawn	23,956	2,576	622	18,805	813	1,140	10.8	2.6	78.5	3.4	4.8
43	South Shore	54,345	1,666	1,524	49,757	268	1,130	3.1	2.8	91.6	0.5	2.1
44	Chatham	30,783	548	913	28,713	78	531	1.8	3.0	93.3	0.3	1.7
45	Avalon Park	9,447	27	81	8,852	9	478	0.3	0.9	93.7	0.1	5.1
46	South Chicago	29,381	1,339	6,789	20,588	71	594	4.6	23.1	70.1	0.2	2.0
46	Burnside	2,148	0	111	1,972	0	65	0.0	5.2	91.8	0.0	3.0
48	Calumet Heights	11,645	54	659	10,716	26	190	0.5	5.7	92.0	0.2	1.6
49	Roseland	36,700	943	880	33,872	73	932	2.6	2.4	92.3	0.2	2.5
50	Pullman	6,741	900	521	4,966	88	266	13.4	7.7	73.7	1.3	3.9
51	South Deering	14,210	672	4,983	8,426	15	114	4.7	35.1	59.3	0.1	0.8
52	East Side	22,722	2,466	19,546	498	45	167	10.9	86.0	2.2	0.2	0.7
53	West Pullman	24,470	296	1,850	21,774	18	532	1.2	7.6	89.0	0.1	2.2
54	Riverdale	7,536	22	137	7,247	0	137	0.3	1.8	96.2	0.0	1.7
55	Hegewisch	9,042	2,933	4,817	1,175	80	37	32.4	53.3	13.0	0.9	0.4
56	Garfield Ridge	36,426	12,774	21,374	1,281	637	360	35.1	58.7	3.5	1.7	1.0
57	Archer Heights	14,021	1,706	11,414	152	670	79	12.2	81.4	1.1	4.8	0.6
58	Brighton Park	42,062	2,953	33,094	915	4,827	273	7.0	78.7	2.2	11.5	0.6
59	McKinley Park	15,443	2,127	8,595	394	4,083	244	13.8	55.7	2.6	26.4	1.6
60	Bridgeport	33,091	10,467	7,458	878	13,484	804	31.6	22.5	2.7	40.7	2.4
61	New City	41,790	3,990	28,488	7,680	1,335	297	9.5	68.2	18.4	3.2	0.7
62	West Elsdon	18,568	2,362	15,432	174	599	1	12.7	83.1	0.9	3.2	0.1
63	Gage Park	35,691	768	32,366	2,116	284	157	2.2	90.7	5.9	0.8	0.4
64	Clearing	24,924	8,065	16,059	356	125	319	32.4	64.4	1.4	0.5	1.3
65	West Lawn	32,649	3,157	28,344	639	450	59	9.7	86.8	2.0	1.4	0.2
66	Chicago Lawn	53,460	1,129	33,000	17,835	290	1,206	2.1	61.7	33.4	0.5	2.3
67	West Englewood	26,729	166	5,306	20,426	186	645	0.6	19.9	76.4	0.7	2.4
68	Englewood	21,411	300	1,502	18,849	176	584	1.4	7.0	88.0	0.8	2.7
69	Greater Grand Crossing	29,563	328	1,287	27,003	299	646	1.1	4.4	91.3	1.0	2.2
70	Ashburn	42,079	3,577	19,507	18,114	291	590	8.5	46.4	43.0	0.7	1.4
71	Auburn Gresham	45,049	374	1,785	41,894	323	673	0.8	4.0	93.0	0.7	1.5
72	Beverly	19,570	11,067	1,338	6,107	136	922	56.6	6.8	31.2	0.7	4.7
73	Washington Heights	25,312	318	396	24,321	0	277	1.3	1.6	96.1	0.0	1.1
74	Mount Greenwood	18,553	15,097	2,082	481	165	728	81.4	11.2	2.6	0.9	3.9
75	Morgan Park	21,325	6,117	976	12,867	232	1,131	28.7	4.6	60.3	1.1	5.3
76	O'Hare	14,004	8,691	2,037	917	1,874	485	62.1	14.5	6.5	13.4	3.5
77	Edgewater	56,146	30,039	8,648	6,930	7,112	3,417	53.5	15.4	12.3	12.7	6.1
	Chicago	2,707,648	872,159	801,852	757,206	190,287	86,144	32.2	29.6	28.0	7.0	3.2

Other geographic divisions

Further information: List of neighborhoods in Chicago

Chicago is divided into three parts called the North Side, West Side, and South Side. These areas follow the path of the Chicago River. The white stripes on the Flag of Chicago show these three sides. The city has 50 wards, and each ward elects one alderman to the Chicago City Council. These wards can sometimes feel like neighborhoods. Unlike community areas, wards are updated every ten years to match population changes. In some places with many churches, people may name their community after the parishes they belong to. For example, someone might say, "I live in St. Gertrude's, but he is from Saint Ita's."

History

Use and reception

List of community areas

Community Area Demographics

Other geographic divisions

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