Listen to the news, and it sounds like the only part of Chicago is the South Side. In reality, all four sides of Chicago (and even certain neighborhoods on the same side of town) have a personality all their own. Find out more about the history and the best places to live in the third largest city in the United States, and how Chicago has made what would be the red state of Illinois consistently blue.
10 Historical Facts About Chicago
Even if you’ve never been to Chicago, or just hung out in the tourist-heavy Downtown Chicago area, there are a few things most people know: the Chicago Bulls won six NBA championships (1991–93, 1996–98), Kevin was running away from burglars in the Blockbuster hit Home Alone there and locals call its elevated train line “the el.” But what else is there to know about Chicago’s rich history, specifically African-American contributions to the Windy City?
- Chicago’s first permanent settler in 1779 was Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, a fur and grain trader, whose name is now affiliated with Lake Shore Drive (renamed Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Lake Shore Drive in 2021), the Du Sable Bridge on Michigan Avenue and the Du Sable Museum of African American History.
- The annual Bud Billiken Parade is the nation’s largest African-American parade, which draws more than 1 million spectators each August.
- Founded in 1905, the Chicago Defender celebrates its 120th anniversary this year.
- Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes was a columnist for the Chicago Defender, writing about international race relations, Jim Crow, the South, white supremacy, imperialism and fascism, segregation in the armed forces, the Soviet Union and communism, and Black art and culture.
- Gwendolyn Brooks, who moved from Topeka, Kansas to Chicago when she was a few weeks old, became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for her book Annie Allen.
- Mayor Harold Washington was elected as Chicago’s first African-American mayor in 1983. He was also re-elected in 1987.
- Founded by Jesse Binga, Binga Bank was Chicago’s first Black-owned life insurance, realty and financial institution.
- Daniel Hale Williams pioneered open-heart surgery in Bronzeville’s Provident Hospital.
- Senator Carol Moseley Braun became the country’s first female, African-American, U.S. senator in 1992.
- Clinton Ghent, a Chicago TV host and dancer, hosted the Chicago version of Soul Train for nine years between 1970 and 1979 after Don Cornelius moved to Los Angeles.
Lifestyles in Chicago
Chicago has a long and storied history, especially in Bronzeville. Nicknamed “Black Metropolis” and the “Black Belt,” Bronzeville spreads from 31st Street south to Pershing Road and east from the Dan Ryan Expressway to Lake Michigan. During the Great Migration, starting in 1916, African-Americans left the South and came to this region of Chicago in search of employment and reduced oppression.
But in the 1960s and 1970s, a sizable amount of the population left due to financial woes and municipal neglect. This is one reason why Bronzeville is not usually the first place visitors think to visit when they come to Chicago. However, some of the events that happen in Bronzeville lead them in that direction anyway. Beer lovers may be curious about Turner Häus Brewery, a Black-owned microbrewery that may be the first place where a Black-owned brewery, a Black-owned whiskey company and a Black head brewer collaborated on a beer.
Art lovers stick around for the Bronzeville Art District on 38th and Michigan and Gallery Guichard on 446 E. 47th Street. And the Chicago Defender loved the area so much that even after moving from Bronzeville to the Magnificent Mile, which was walking distance from Grant Park when former President Barack H. Obama won the 2008 presidency, the newspaper returned and settled down on King Drive.
People who are considering living in Chicago may be curious about the Obamas’ hometown, housed between Kenwood and Hyde Park. And the city has plenty of interesting things to do besides checking out the former president’s hangouts. The Windy City has approximately 2,716,450 residents, includes 50 wards, has 77 community areas in 100 neighborhoods and is the home of eight major league sports teams. With 303 miles of bike lanes, Chicago also has the second-highest percentage of commuters riding their bikes to work. You’ll never twiddle your thumbs in a city with 36 annual parades; 40 annual film festivals; 74 music festivals; 200 professional dance companies; more than 200 theaters; 250 live music venues; and at least a dozen art house and independent cinemas.
And while cars fill up the Dan Ryan Expressway and Du Sable Drive, locals and tourists definitely do not have to drive to navigate the city. Chicago residents are consistently taking advantage of 145 train stations that operate eight routes traveling throughout the city and nearby suburbs, on elevated railways, in subways, or on the ground. There are also approximately 1,868 buses traveling 127 routes around the city.
Most Populated Neighborhoods in Chicago
Chicago has a long history of being segregated (due to the Black Belt and redlining), and only 38% of Black households in Cook County own the homes in which they live in compared to 70% of white households. The suburbs tell a different tale though. Olympia Fields, Illinois has a Black homeownership rate of 98% and is one of only a handful of sizable, majority-Black communities in the United States where the black homeownership rate exceeds 80%.
Other southern suburbs where Black homeownership is prominent include South Holland, Illinois; Flossmoor, Illinois; Matteson, Illinois; and Lynwood, Illinois. The South Side and West Side are still the most common areas where Black people reside within the city limits. Rental rates vary, depending on whether the home is on a residential block full of bungalows, inside of a lakefront-view apartment or a busy condominium block.
West Ridge (also known as West Rogers Park or North Town) received an A+ rating for diversity though and is arguably one of the best representations of multiculturalism in the city, with more than 55,600 residents. In 2022 stats for Rogers Park, 40% of residents were white, approximately 23% were Latino or Hispanic, nearly 25% were African-American and about 7% were Asian American. This matches the overall makeup of (segregated) Chicago with a guesstimated 31% white, nearly 30% Latino or Hispanic, about 29% African-American and nearly 7% Asian American.
Best Job Markets in Chicago
With advancements in technology and as a result of the pandemic, remote work continues to affect the results of popular jobs in any city. According to the American Community Survey (ACS), between 2019 and 2021, remote work participation is still higher now than its 2019 level in all industries except agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. For in-person work, Chicago is excelling in finance and manufacturing jobs, along with life sciences and technology. The highest proportion of roles is in administration (12.6%), followed by logistics (11%) and management (8.9%), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health care is huge in Chicago, mainly due to the Illinois Medical District’s 40 health care facilities. While aspiring entertainers tend to flock to Hollywood and New York, Chicago has offered 13,000 film and TV production jobs and more than 400 individual film and TV productions.
As of January 21, 2025, the average annual pay for an African-American in Chicago is $81,113 a year, which aligns with overall estimates of Chicago residents making $71,566 to $87,592 per year. However, the type of job (ex. Museum Educator, Program Designer) greatly influences making this rate. Parts of the city have a considerable amount of Chicagoans who make much less. (In 2023, Illinois had the fifth-highest average unemployment rate of any state, averaging 4.4%, more than the national average of 3.6%.)
Cost of Living in Chicago
Depending on where you used to live, Chicago is either startlingly expensive or a good deal. A Houston resident making $50,000 would need to make about $60,000 for the same standard of living. An Atlanta resident would have to make about $58,000 to keep up. Meanwhile, a Los Angeles resident would only need a little under $38,000 to maintain the same lifestyle in Chicago. A Brooklyn resident could make even less at about $35,000 to keep the same standard of living for a life in the Windy City.
Crime Rates While Living in Chicago
While Chicago has not been ranked the most violent city in the U.S. for several years, political leanings continue to insist the city lives up to an old reputation. In fact, in a 2023 Gallup poll, only 11% of Republicans or Republican-leaning Independents said they felt safe in Chicago. However, 41% of Democratic or Democratic-leaning Independents felt safe in this Midwestern city. The truth is that shootings and homicides in Chicago decreased by 13% in 2023, and violence rates returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, this made the first year since 2019 in which less than 600 people were murdered in the city of millions. Although Chicago and New York are in the top three most populous cities in the country, their homicide numbers are much lower than two cities (Detroit and St. Louis) in red states, along with Baltimore. Additionally, mass shooting rates were highest in southeastern, red states such as Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Living in Chicago
Talk to a Chicagoan from any side of town — West Side, North Side, South Side, East Side, Wild 100s (residents who live in neighborhoods between 100th to 130th streets, along the Morgan Park area and beyond) — and there’s a pretty good chance that they’ll be unapologetically proud of their city. With a combination of boats and beaches near Lake Michigan, countless stores and restaurants in Downtown Chicago, endless art festivals year-round, LGBTQ+-friendly communities in neighborhoods like Northalsted (Boystown Chicago) and Andersonville, deep dish pizza, and enough sporting events to stay glued to the bleachers, just about every side of Chicago can make tourists want to find permanent homes.
