Curious which parts of Chicago are actually affordable? With widely varying rents across the city ($725 in Burnside vs $3,100 in Near North Side for the median two-bedroom<\/strong>) it\u2019s no surprise that some neighborhoods have rents that are just too damn high. Given that income varies across neighborhoods as well, this means that most expensive neighborhood isn\u2019t necessarily the least affordable.<\/p>\n Of the 69 Chicago neighborhoods that we had data for, just 21 had median rents within reach <\/strong>of the median income for that neighborhood and three of those were right at the limit.\u00a0Below, we\u2019ve mapped out all the neighborhoods and their affordability. Further down is a table with all available neighborhoods, rents, and incomes.<\/p>\n We used data from a 2016 study<\/a>\u00a0by researchers Dr. Jim Lewis (UIC) and Rob Paral (Fellow in the Global Cities Program of the Chicago) based on the Census American Community Survey, to get median household income for Chicago\u2019s 77 neighborhoods. This, combined with RentHop’s own rental data has allowed us to calculate which neighborhoods are and are not affordable in Chicago.<\/p>\n The 40x Rule \u2013 30% of Income<\/strong><\/p>\n You may have heard you shouldn\u2019t spend more than 30% of your income on rent. The way the math works out, your household’s yearly income should be 40 times the monthly rent to afford an apartment and many landlords won\u2019t accept anyone who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n For example: The Loop\u2019s $2,885 median two-bedroom rent would require household income of $115,400 to secure and the median household income is only $88,756. The average household would be spending nearly 40% of their income to rent a new apartment in the Loop.<\/strong> Not good, but other neighborhoods are much worse!<\/p>\n There are exceptions to the rule: If you have vast savings or a guarantor whom makes 80 times the rent, a landlord is likely to let you slide without meeting the income requirements. It\u2019s also not unheard of for a landlord to request last month\u2019s rent in addition to the first month and security deposit for those with below average credit \/ income. Our \u201chow much can I afford<\/a>\u201d guide can give you a little more info on these rules and some ways to overcome them.<\/p>\n So how much\u00a0income DO\u00a0<\/strong>you need in order to live in a Chicago neighborhood?<\/p>\nThe Map Below Shows Income Required for a 2-Bedroom Apartment in Chicago<\/strong><\/h2>\n