Lake Bluff

  Lake Bluff Population 5,700 (91% white, 6% Asian, 2% Hispanic, 1% black) Median household income $147,000 Median sales price (house) $468,000 Violent crime rate 0.0 per 1,000 (vs. 1.8 countywide) Transportation One Metra stop Want to send your kids to excellent Lake Forest High School while sidestepping the affluent Lake Forest scene? Tiny Lake … Read more

Lincoln Square

  Lincoln Square Includes: Budlong Woods, Ravenswood Population: 39,500 (63% white, 19% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 5% black) Median household income: $55,200 Median sales price (house): $582,000 Median sales price (condo): $247,000 Violent crime rate: 2.6 per 1,000 (vs. 9.3 citywide) Transportation: Four el stops; one Metra stop If you think of this as a beer-and-brats … Read more

La Grange

  La Grange Population: 15,600 (86% white, 6% Hispanic, 5% black, 1% Asian) Median household income: $97,000 Median sales price (house): $421,000 Violent crime rate: 1.0 per 1,000 (vs. 2.1 countywide) Transportation: Two Metra stops In 2012, researchers at DePaul University released a report naming La Grange the most transit-friendly suburb in the entire Chicago … Read more

Geneva

  Geneva Population: 21,500 (91% white, 5% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 1% black) Median household income: $93,000 Median sales price (house): $316,000 Violent crime rate: 0.5 per 1,000 (vs. 1.9 countywide) Transportation: One Metra stop This former grain-mill town is known for fun stuff to see and do. (Just ask the tourists who flock here.) There’s … Read more

Woodstock

  Woodstock Population: 24,800 (71% white, 24% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 2% black) Median household income: $56,000 Median sales price (house): $147,000 Violent crime rate: 1.0 per 1,000 (vs. 1.2 countywide) Transportation: One Metra stop The 1993 movie Groundhog Day wasn’t filmed in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, but right here in Woodstock, Illinois. Bill Murray’s hapless character spent … Read more

Northbrook

  Northbrook Population: 33,300 (84% white, 12% Asian, 3% Hispanic, 1% black) Median household income: $109,000 Median sales price (house): $504,000 Violent crime rate: 0.3 per 1,000 (vs. 2.1 countywide) Transportation: One Metra stop This large, affluent village cradled by I-94 and I-294 boasts a whole lot of everything. Take green space, for example: Northbrook … Read more

Frankfort

  Frankfort Population: 17,800 (86% white, 6% black, 5% Hispanic, 3% Asian) Median household income: $115,000 Median sales price (house): $313,000 Violent crime rate: 0.7 per 1,000 (vs. 1.9 countywide) Transportation: I-57 or I-80 The only suburb on this list without passenger train service, Frankfort works hard to overcome that negative with pluses such as … Read more

Bridgeport

  Bridgeport Includes: Chinatown Population: 31,900 (33% Asian, 33% white, 29% Hispanic, 2% black) Median household income: $48,000 Median sales price (house): $300,000 Median sales price (condo): $195,000 Violent crime rate: 3.3 per 1,000 (vs. 9.3 citywide) Transportation: One el stop The ancestral home of Daleys Richard J. and Richard M., Bridgeport has benefited from … Read more

Near South Side

  Near South Side Includes: Printers Row, South Loop Population: 21,400 (45% white, 28% black, 18% Asian, 6% Hispanic) Median household income: $46,300 Median sales price (condo): $350,000 Violent crime rate: 3.6 per 1,000 (vs. 9.3 citywide) Transportation: One el stop; two Metra stops People looking for diversity and a lightning-fast trip downtown will love … Read more

West Town

  West Town Includes: Noble Square, Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park Population: 81,400 (57% white, 29% Hispanic, 9% black, 4% Asian) Median household income: $52,500 Median sales price (house): $690,000 Median sales price (condo): $363,000 Violent crime rate: 6.7 per 1,000 (vs. 9.3 citywide) Transportation: Four el stops; one Metra stop Proof that the many neighborhoods … Read more