Here’s how much it costs to rent near each ‘L’ station

Exactly how much will it cost to live next to the ‘L’ in a popular neighborhood? A new interactive map from apartment search site RentHop seeks to shed some light on exactly what one should expect to pay to live near transit in neighborhoods across the city. Empirical evidence has always suggested that apartments closer to transit will cost more, but the new map from RentHop explores how much it costs to live near ‘L’ stations across the CTA’s rail system and how much the median rental price has changed over the last year.

The numbers displayed in the map focuses on the cost of one-bedroom units from the first quarter of this year. RentHop says that it looked to use at least 50 listings within a quarter of a mile of each ‘L’ station to come up with the median rent numbers. Some points required a larger radius to come up with 50 unique listings, however these stations aren’t listed.

The map suggests that apartments around stations along the Green Line are quickly increasing in rent. The Harlem/Lake station witnessed the largest single year gain in rent prices, increasing by 15% since this same period last year. The Oak Park and Cottage Grove stations on the Green Line were also in the top five for biggest rent increases. The Lake Street Red Line station and Chicago Avenue Brown Line station also saw big jumps in rent over the last year.

However, it’s more of a mixed bag for apartments that witnessed lower median rent prices. The data suggests that apartments around the Polk Pink Line station saw the biggest drop since this same period last year. Meanwhile, the Illinois Medical District and Clinton stations along the Blue Line also witnessed a decrease in the median cost for a one-bedroom apartment.

• Chicago Median Rent by L Train Stop 2017 [RentHop]