Why Some Chicago Neighborhoods Are Losing Their Children

IHS looked at data on where the under-18 population in Chicago is growing or declining. We talked to key neighborhood stakeholders to understand why and what these trends mean for neighborhoods.

Since 2010, the number of children in Chicago declined by 40,000. Chicago ranks near the top of cities in the nation for child population declines, right behind Cleveland and Detroit. As our research shows, the losses are coming exclusively from low- and moderate-cost neighborhoods. Higher-cost Chicago neighborhoods, in contrast, saw the number of children increase. The patterns are visualized by community area in an interactive map the map at the bottom of the blog.