Chicago, IL (Near West Side)

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the Near West Side neighborhood in Chicago are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 99.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 92.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 99.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.

The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.

In the Near West Side neighborhood, 50.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 20.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (15.6%), and 13.7% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.

Languages

The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the Near West Side neighborhood is English, spoken by 88.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the Near West Side neighborhood in Chicago, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (7.0%). There are also a number of people of Polish ancestry (6.7%), and residents who report Irish roots (5.3%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (4.4%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (2.4%), among others.

Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in Near West Side neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (27.8% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.

Here most residents (49.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (19.1%) and 9.9% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.