For those who live and work in Chicago there are certain city characteristics that are a fact of life. The housing availablility and blueprint of the city are part of what makes Chicago unique.

The City

Chicago is composed of an area that is 228 square miles. The average city block is 330 by 660 feet, while the average city lot is 25 by 125 feet. The city sits at 578 feet above sea level and has over 100 miles of rivers. Some of the United State’s closest large cities are Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit, and St. Louis which are all within 300 miles of Chicago and can usually be reached within a five hour drive. Chicago is 810 miles from New York and 2,050 miles from Los Angeles.

Housing

The average cost of a home in Chicago is $223,300 with an appreciation rate of 8.2 percent compared to the national average cost of a home which is $160,000 with an appreciation of 7.10 percent. Housing data from 2002 shows that there were 57,510 homes that cost between $50,000 and $99,999 in Chicago. There were 74,460 homes that were valued between $100,000 and $149,999 and 50,322 that were valued between $150,000 and $199,999. There were 45,041 houses that were valued at over $300,000. Of the 1,049,943 houses in Chicago, 609,052 of them were family homes, while the remaining 440,891 were for non-family use.

Renting

The median cost of renting an apartment in Chicago is about $700 per month. In 2002, there were 45,268 units available for rent under $300. There were 73,129 that were available for between $300 and $499 and 208,866 available for between $500 and $749. 105,839 were available for rent with costs exceeding $1,000 per month. Chicago’s average rent falls in the middle of the rankings when compared to other large United States cities. In 2003, the average rent in the Chicago was $951 while the average rent in New York was $1,073 and the average rent in San Francisco was $1,775. The average rent for the entire United States was $670. This makes Chicago one of the more reasonable large cities in which to rent housing.

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