Chicago Community Area Hardship Index 2016-2020
The Great Cities Institute's Community Hardship Index has been updated continually since 2016.
2016-2020 Chicago Community Area Hardship Index
Map Generated by the Great Cities Institute
The economic hardship score is the average of six variables that have been standardized on a scale from 0 to 100.
The six variables include:
- Unemployment (over the age of 16 years)
- Education (over 25 years of age without a high school diploma).
- Per capita income level.
- Poverty (households below the poverty level).
- Crowded housing (housing units with more than one person per room).
- Dependency (population under 18 or over 64 years of age).
Higher hardship index scores indicate worse economic conditions.
Data Highlights 2016-2020
- The five community areas with the highest economic hardship scores are Riverdale (76.5), Fuller Park (75.1), West Garfield Park (71.6), Englewood (68.2), and New City (67.0).
- The five community areas with the lowest economic hardship are Near North Side (9.4), Near South Side (10.2), Lincoln Park (11.4), Loop (12.9), and Lakeview (13.5).
- A cluster of community areas on the highest tier of economic hardship scores (over 60.1) is located on the West side of Chicago and runs through the South side of Chicago. These community areas includes West Garfield Park (71.6), East Garfield Park (65.8), North Lawndale (60.3), South Lawndale (66.7), Archer Heights (62.9), Brighton Park (65.5), Gage Park (66.4), New City (67.0), Armour Square (62.9), Fuller Park (75.1), West Englewood (64.1), Englewood (68.2), Washington Park (61.3).
- A cluster of community areas on the lowest tier of economic hardship scores (under 15.0) is located along Lake Michigan and include: the Near South Side (10.2), the Loop (12.9), the Near North Side (9.4), Lincoln Park (11.4), West Town (14.8), and Lakeview (13.5).
- Most community areas that scored in the second lowest tier of economic hardship (15.1 - 30.0) are located in the North side of Chicago and include: Edison Park (20.7), Forest Glen (28.1), Lincoln Square (24.7), North Center (18.1), Logan Square (23.4), and Near West Side (27.1).
- Only two community areas scoring on the second lowest tier of economic hardship (15.1 - 30.0) are located in the South side of Chicago. These community areas include: Hyde Park (28.6) and Beverly (26.3).
- The median economic hardship value for all community areas is 46.1 consisting of Avalon Park.
Tabulated by the Great Cities Institute
Methodology:
The Chicago Community Area economic hardship index calculation is based on the “Intercity Hardship Index.” by Richard P. Nathan and Charles F. Adams, Jr. in “Understanding Urban Hardship,” Political Science Quarterly 91 (Spring 1976): 47-62.
The original Chicago Community Area economic hardship index was developed by GCI senior research specialist Matthew Wilson.
Data Source:
The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) is a national monthly survey that produces demographic, socioeconomic, employment, income, education and behavioral estimates for households and individuals. About 3.54 million addresses are sampled each year nationwide.
2006-2010 and 2016-2020 ACS 5-year estimates were used to calculate index values by census tracts. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software was used to aggregate census tract data and geographies into Chicago Community Area boundaries. Please note that the 2016-2020 ACS estimates used a different data collection methodology than previous ACS surveys due to nonresponse bias in 2020 resulting from the pandemic. To read more information on the 2016-2020 methodolgy changes, please visit the link below.
