You’ve done this.
The commenters weren’t entirely wrong. Chicago naturally shares a lot with our nation’s largest cities. However, Chicago is as midwestern as the corn that surrounds it. Even more, it’s the capital of the region. And we should embrace it.
A recent study by the Economic Innovation Group compared economic and quality of life characteristics for several midsize midwestern metros, comparing South Bend, Indiana (home to former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who served as mayor from 2012 to 2020), and other similarly sized metros in the region with other metros throughout the country, examining the period between 2007 and 2016. South Bend, Grand Rapids, and Fort Wayne were the only metros that saw slight improvements in their indicators (among others, educational attainment and median household income) over the period; other cities like Toledo, Racine, and Peoria continued a downward slide that began well before the Great Recession. From the report’s conclusion: “Modest recoveries from the Great Recession pale in comparison to the forceful rebounds experienced across much of the rest of the country.”
This becomes clear when you analyze Chicago via its 77 community areas, defined by University of Chicago researchers in the 1920s. Researchers of all stripes have been collecting and analyzing socioeconomic data on the city using these areas since at least 1930. This method provides great historical data on the communities that make up the city—and it’s a resource few cities in America enjoy.
The most significant divergence between the Booming Bubble and the balance of the city might be in terms of median household income. In 2017 the median household income within the Bubble was $68,186, nearly equal to that of the metro area overall and actually higher (when adjusted for cost of living) than for all of San Francisco. Beyond the Bubble, the median household income is $43,946, well below the metro area’s $68,403 median household income.
If Chicago has a Booming Bubble, then by definition there’s an area that’s . . . not. How does the rest of the city compare with other midwest or rust belt cities? Again, very well, but its sheer size makes it difficult to make direct comparisons. However, trends emerge. The rest of the city beyond the Bubble holds nearly 1.8 million residents within 179 square miles, slightly bigger than Philadelphia (1.6 million, 140 square miles). In fact, it would take multiple versions of rust belt cities to equal beyond-the-Bubble Chicago in size—it’s more than twice the size of Detroit, three times larger than Baltimore, and nearly five times larger than Cleveland.
