How to Find Cheap Apartments in Chicago

A Brief Guide to Inexpensive Housing Resources

Compared to places like New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, Chicago’s rental market offers plenty of well-located apartments and houses that are relatively inexpensive – perfect for students, young professionals, and people of any age who want to balance cost and comfort in a decent neighborhood. As a recent arrival to the Windy City, I learned all about how to find cheap apartments in Chicago during my own hunt for housing.

How to find cheap apartments in Chicago: Learn about the neighborhoods.

As with any city, apartment rents vary dramatically by neighborhood. Areas like Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and the Gold Coast will always be expensive because of their proximity to the lake and to conventionally popular restaurants, bars, and shopping. The more recently gentrified Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods are also pricier these days thanks to their hipness – but they’re still much more affordable than the traditional moneyed areas. The makeover of this Wicker Park zone has spilled northwest into Logan Square and even directly west into Humboldt Park: both are quite cheap and welcoming, even if slightly grittier.

Other popular but affordable neighborhoods on the north side include Ravenswood/Lincoln Square, Uptown, Edgewater/Andersonville, and Rogers Park (which is way north but full of cheap, quality apartments). Last but not least, the Pilsen neighborhood, a bit southwest of the Loop, is worth a mention because rents are amazingly cheap and an artists’ colony has begun to thrive there. For brief details about all these neighborhoods (and others), visit www.chicagoneighobrhoods.cc.

How to find cheap apartments in Chicago: Hit the pavement.