Chicago’s 77 Community Areas, Explained

Chicago is divided into 77 official community areas, stable geographic units that the City and researchers use to report data and plan services. University of Chicago sociologists drew the original 75 in the 1920s, working with the city’s Department of Public Health; O’Hare and Edgewater were added later. Community areas are larger and more fixed than neighborhoods, so one community area usually holds several neighborhoods.

Fact	Detail
Number of community areas	77
Original number	75, made up of 935 census tracts
Who drew them	The University of Chicago’s Local Community Research Committee, with the Chicago Department of Public Health
When	1920s; the University of Chicago Press published 1920 Census data by community area
Later additions	#76 O’Hare (after the 1956 annexation of land for the airport) and #77 Edgewater (split from Uptown in 1980)
Largest by 2020 population	Near North Side, 105,481 residents
Number of sides in the common grouping	9

What a community area is

A community area is a fixed piece of the city with a number from 1 to 77. Rogers Park, at the city’s northeast corner, is #1, and Edgewater, the most recent addition, is #77.

Sociologist Robert Park’s idea of natural areas, separated by rivers, parks and railroads, shaped the original map. The goal was to report census and health data on real divisions of the city rather than ward lines, which shifted after every census.

Community areas vs. neighborhoods

Neighborhoods are informal and change over time; community areas are official and almost never change. A single community area often contains several neighborhoods.

Many famous neighborhoods sit inside a community area with a different name. Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village are in West Town, Bucktown is in Logan Square, Wrigleyville is in Lake View, and Pilsen and Back of the Yards fall under the Lower West Side and New City.

All 77 community areas

Each name links to our guide for that community area.

No.	Community area	Side
1	Rogers Park	Far North Side
2	West Ridge	Far North Side
3	Uptown	Far North Side
4	Lincoln Square	Far North Side
5	North Center	North Side
6	Lake View	North Side
7	Lincoln Park	North Side
8	Near North Side	Central
9	Edison Park	Far North Side
10	Norwood Park	Far North Side
11	Jefferson Park	Far North Side
12	Forest Glen	Far North Side
13	North Park	Far North Side
14	Albany Park	Far North Side
15	Portage Park	Northwest Side
16	Irving Park	Northwest Side
17	Dunning	Northwest Side
18	Montclare	Northwest Side
19	Belmont Cragin	Northwest Side
20	Hermosa	Northwest Side
21	Avondale	North Side
22	Logan Square	North Side
23	Humboldt Park	West Side
24	West Town	West Side
25	Austin	West Side
26	West Garfield Park	West Side
27	East Garfield Park	West Side
28	Near West Side	West Side
29	North Lawndale	West Side
30	South Lawndale	West Side
31	Lower West Side	West Side
32	Loop	Central
33	Near South Side	Central
34	Armour Square	South Side
35	Douglas	South Side
36	Oakland	South Side
37	Fuller Park	South Side
38	Grand Boulevard	South Side
39	Kenwood	South Side
40	Washington Park	South Side
41	Hyde Park	South Side
42	Woodlawn	South Side
43	South Shore	South Side
44	Chatham	Far Southeast Side
45	Avalon Park	Far Southeast Side
46	South Chicago	Far Southeast Side
47	Burnside	Far Southeast Side
48	Calumet Heights	Far Southeast Side
49	Roseland	Far Southeast Side
50	Pullman	Far Southeast Side
51	South Deering	Far Southeast Side
52	East Side	Far Southeast Side
53	West Pullman	Far Southeast Side
54	Riverdale	Far Southeast Side
55	Hegewisch	Far Southeast Side
56	Garfield Ridge	Southwest Side
57	Archer Heights	Southwest Side
58	Brighton Park	Southwest Side
59	McKinley Park	Southwest Side
60	Bridgeport	South Side
61	New City	Southwest Side
62	West Elsdon	Southwest Side
63	Gage Park	Southwest Side
64	Clearing	Southwest Side
65	West Lawn	Southwest Side
66	Chicago Lawn	Southwest Side
67	West Englewood	Southwest Side
68	Englewood	Southwest Side
69	Greater Grand Crossing	South Side
70	Ashburn	Far Southwest Side
71	Auburn Gresham	Far Southwest Side
72	Beverly	Far Southwest Side
73	Washington Heights	Far Southwest Side
74	Mount Greenwood	Far Southwest Side
75	Morgan Park	Far Southwest Side
76	O’Hare	Far North Side
77	Edgewater	Far North Side

How the sides work

Chicagoans describe the city by sides as well as by neighborhood. A widely used grouping splits the 77 community areas into nine sides; the assignments in the table above follow that grouping.

Side	Community areas	Count
Far North Side	Rogers Park, West Ridge, Uptown, Lincoln Square, Edison Park, Norwood Park, Jefferson Park, Forest Glen, North Park, Albany Park, O’Hare, Edgewater	12
North Side	North Center, Lake View, Lincoln Park, Avondale, Logan Square	5
Northwest Side	Portage Park, Irving Park, Dunning, Montclare, Belmont Cragin, Hermosa	6
West Side	Humboldt Park, West Town, Austin, West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, Near West Side, North Lawndale, South Lawndale, Lower West Side	9
Central	Near North Side, Loop, Near South Side	3
South Side	Armour Square, Douglas, Oakland, Fuller Park, Grand Boulevard, Kenwood, Washington Park, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, South Shore, Bridgeport, Greater Grand Crossing	12
Southwest Side	Garfield Ridge, Archer Heights, Brighton Park, McKinley Park, New City, West Elsdon, Gage Park, Clearing, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, West Englewood, Englewood	12
Far Southwest Side	Ashburn, Auburn Gresham, Beverly, Washington Heights, Mount Greenwood, Morgan Park	6
Far Southeast Side	Chatham, Avalon Park, South Chicago, Burnside, Calumet Heights, Roseland, Pullman, South Deering, East Side, West Pullman, Riverdale, Hegewisch	12

The sides are a convention, not a legal boundary. You will also hear the simpler three-way split of North Side, South Side and West Side, with downtown in the middle.

How community areas are used

Data: census results, health statistics and other city figures are commonly reported by community area, so numbers can be compared across decades.
Planning: the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning publishes a Community Data Snapshot for each community area, with population and other figures (the latest edition is the June 2026 release).
Research: the Local Community Fact Book series, published after nearly every census, built a long record of how each area changed.

Frequently asked questions

How many community areas does Chicago have?

77. The original map had 75; O’Hare became #76 and Edgewater became #77 when it split from Uptown in 1980.

Who created Chicago’s community areas?

Researchers at the University of Chicago, led by the ideas of sociologist Robert Park and working with the Chicago Department of Public Health, in the 1920s. Ernest Burgess also played a central role.

What is the difference between a community area and a neighborhood?

Community areas are 77 official, fixed units used for data. Neighborhoods are informal, often smaller, and their names and edges shift over time.

Which community area has the most people?

The Near North Side, with 105,481 residents in the 2020 Census, followed by Lake View with 103,050.

What is Community Area #1?

Rogers Park, on the Far North Side lakefront next to Evanston.

Are community areas the same as wards?

No. Wards are the 50 political districts that elect City Council members and are redrawn after each census. Community areas stay the same.

Related guides

Sources

Last updated: October 31, 2026