Which Chicago neighborhoods are like Lincoln Park, but cost less? I usually start with North Center, Bucktown, Lakeview, Logan Square, and Lincoln Square. Each one has things buyers love about Lincoln Park, like tree-lined streets, vintage homes, walkable restaurants, and easy access to the L. Based on my MLS research for the last 12 months, a 4-bedroom or larger house sold for 25% to 56% less in these neighborhoods than in Lincoln Park.
If you own a Lincoln Park condo and want a house with a yard and garage, or you are relocating and Lincoln Park is at the top of your list, these are the neighborhoods I would compare first. Lincoln Park is a wonderful place to live, but it is not your only option. The real question is which features matter most to you and what you are willing to give up to get them.
Before comparing neighborhoods, it helps to understand what buyers are paying in Lincoln Park. I reviewed closed MLS sales over the last 12 months. The median house sold for $2,575,000, while a house with 4 or more bedrooms sold for a median of $2,731,250.
For condos, the median was $968,500 for a 3-bedroom and $620,000 for a 2-bedroom. Lincoln Park condos sell from about $200,000 to $2 million, depending on the building, block, and view.
That is why I prefer comparing houses by bedroom count rather than relying on one neighborhood median. A buyer looking for a 4-bedroom house is shopping in a different part of the market than someone considering a 2-bedroom condo.
These numbers are a starting point, not a substitute for comparing individual homes. Location, condition, layout, parking, and outdoor space can make a big difference in what a property sells for.
Here is how Lincoln Park compares with five neighborhoods I regularly recommend to buyers. I have put 4-bedroom houses and 3-bedroom condos first because those are often the options buyers consider when they are ready to move up.
Neighborhood | 4+ bed house | All houses | 3-bed condo | 2-bed condo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lincoln Park | $2,731,250 | $2,575,000 | $968,500 | $620,000 |
Lakeview | $2,050,000 (25% less) | $1,905,604 (26% less) | $850,000 (12% less) | $512,521 (17% less) |
Bucktown | $1,875,000 (31% less) | $1,700,000 (34% less) | $832,500 (14% less) | $575,000 (7% less) |
North Center (incl. Roscoe Village) | $1,825,000 (33% less) | $1,715,000 (33% less) | $730,000 (25% less) | $512,500 (17% less) |
Lincoln Square | $1,605,000 (41% less) | $1,335,000 (48% less) | $700,000 (28% less) | $376,000 (39% less) |
Logan Square | $1,200,000 (56% less) | $1,050,000 (59% less) | $727,500 (25% less) | $445,000 (28% less) |
Source: My review of closed sales in MRED MLS, approximately November 2025 to November 2026. Lincoln Park, Lakeview, North Center, and Lincoln Square are grouped by Chicago community area, and the North Center figures include Roscoe Village. Bucktown and Logan Square were drawn on the MLS map as separate neighborhoods, because the city's Logan Square community area includes all of Bucktown. "House" means single-family homes. Prices are medians, not prices for equivalent properties. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
There are some meaningful price differences here, especially for buyers considering a 4-bedroom house. But I would not make a neighborhood decision based on the table alone. Two homes with the same number of bedrooms can offer very different layouts, finishes, outdoor spaces, and locations.
And lower median prices do not necessarily mean less competition. More than half of the condos in each of these neighborhoods sold above list price, and so did about half of the houses everywhere except Lincoln Park, where 37% did. In Bucktown, 65% of condos sold over asking, compared with 56% in Lincoln Park.
So the question is not just where the prices are lower. It is which neighborhood gives you the combination of home, location, and lifestyle you are looking for.
Sometimes what buyers love about Lincoln Park is not necessarily the lake or the location. It is the beautiful residential streets and the idea of owning a house with a yard and garage. If that sounds like you, I would start with North Center and Roscoe Village.
Both offer a neighborhood feel with restaurants, shops, and coffee places nearby. Lincoln Avenue and Roscoe Street are popular local destinations, and the Brown Line stops at Montrose, Irving Park, and Addison. You will also find fewer high-rises and more single-family homes.
The price difference is worth paying attention to. A 4-bedroom or larger house sold for a median of $1,825,000, compared with $2,731,250 in Lincoln Park. For a 3-bedroom condo, the median was $730,000 compared with $968,500.
What you save: About 33% on a 4-bedroom house, 25% on a 3-bedroom condo, and 17% on a 2-bedroom condo.
What you trade: You are farther from the lake, and the buying process can be competitive. In the last 12 months, 64% of North Center condos sold over asking.
My advice: If your priority is a single-family home on a residential street, I would put North Center and Roscoe Village near the top of your list. But I would also look carefully at individual properties and recent comparable sales before assuming the lower neighborhood median translates into a better deal.
For more detail, read my guides to buying a home in North Center and living in Roscoe Village.
If you enjoy the restaurants, shopping, and city energy of Lincoln Park, but want to explore other options for a house, I would take a close look at Bucktown.
Bucktown offers residential streets close to restaurants and boutiques, along with the 606 trail, Blue Line stops nearby at Damen and Western, and convenient access to the Kennedy Expressway. For buyers who want a house with a garage and an active neighborhood around them, it is worth exploring.
Here is the price difference. In the last 12 months, a 4-bedroom or larger house sold for a median of $1,875,000, about $856,000 less than in Lincoln Park. The median for all single-family houses was $1,700,000, compared with $2,575,000 in Lincoln Park.
That is a meaningful difference in the neighborhood medians, but I would still compare specific homes rather than assume the properties are equivalent. The location, condition, layout, and features of the house all matter.
What you save: About 31% on a 4-bedroom house and 14% on a 3-bedroom condo. For a 2-bedroom condo, the difference is only about 7%, so I would not recommend Bucktown based on condo prices alone.
What you trade: You are farther from the lake, and the Blue Line serves this area instead of the Red or Brown Line. Bucktown condos can also be very competitive, with 65% selling over asking.
My advice: I would recommend Bucktown to buyers who want the convenience of restaurants and shopping nearby but do not need to be close to the lake. I would also pay attention to your daily commute because being close to downtown on a map does not always mean the most convenient trip to work.
My guide to living in Bucktown covers the neighborhood, prices, and housing options in more detail.
If you love Lincoln Park and want to keep a similar lifestyle, Lakeview would be one of my first recommendations.
Lakeview sits directly north of Lincoln Park and shares many of the features buyers are looking for. You have vintage greystones, brick two-flats, lakefront parks, Red and Brown Line stops, and shopping and restaurants along Southport Avenue.
There is also a larger pool of recent condo and townhome sales to look at. In the last 12 months, 1,531 condos and townhomes sold in Lakeview, compared with 1,035 in Lincoln Park.
For buyers considering a house, the median sale price for a 4-bedroom or larger home was $2,050,000, compared with $2,731,250 in Lincoln Park. For 3-bedroom condos, the median was $850,000 compared with $968,500.
What you save: About 25% on a 4-bedroom house and 12% on a 3-bedroom condo. That 3-bedroom condo difference is the smallest in this comparison, so Lakeview may not offer the price advantage you expect if a condo is your priority.
What you trade: Some blocks near Wrigley Field get busy on game days and concert nights. I would visit the immediate area at different times before deciding whether a particular location works for you. My article on living near Wrigley Field explains what to expect.
My advice: Do not treat Lakeview as one neighborhood experience. East Lakeview, West Lakeview, and the Southport Corridor offer different surroundings and daily routines.
If you want to stay near the lake, I would focus your search differently than if you want a quieter residential block. Knowing which part of Lincoln Park you love helps narrow down the right part of Lakeview.
If you are looking for a 4-bedroom house and want to consider neighborhoods with significantly lower median sale prices than Lincoln Park, Logan Square is worth exploring.
One important detail about my MLS research: I searched Logan Square separately from Bucktown. Those neighborhoods are often grouped together in community area statistics, but the prices can tell a different story when you look at them separately.
In Logan Square, excluding Bucktown, a 4-bedroom or larger house sold for a median of $1,200,000, less than half of the Lincoln Park median of $2,731,250. The median for all houses was $1,050,000, compared with $2,575,000 in Lincoln Park.
Logan Square has its own appeal. There are beautiful vintage homes, tree-lined boulevards, the 606 trail, Blue Line access, and an active restaurant scene. But it is a different experience from living near the Lincoln Park lakefront, so I would spend some time exploring the area before making that comparison.
What you save: About 56% on a 4-bedroom house, 25% on a 3-bedroom condo, and 28% on a 2-bedroom condo.
What you trade: Logan Square covers a large area, and the experience can change from one part of the neighborhood to another. You are also farther from the lake, and the commute may be less convenient depending on where you work.
My advice: I would not look at the Logan Square median and assume every 4-bedroom house will be priced similarly. We would need to compare the actual homes available in the locations you like.
If you work in Streeterville or the Gold Coast, I would also make sure you test the commute. The Blue Line is convenient for some destinations, but the best train line depends on where you need to go.
If what you love about Lincoln Park is being able to walk to coffee shops, restaurants, and neighborhood businesses, I would definitely consider Lincoln Square.
Lincoln Avenue has cafes, bakeries, shops, and restaurants, while Welles Park gives residents a popular neighborhood green space. The Brown Line at Western connects the area to downtown, and the surrounding residential streets offer a different pace from some of the busier parts of Lincoln Park.
The price difference is significant. A 4-bedroom or larger house sold for a median of $1,605,000, compared with $2,731,250 in Lincoln Park. For a 3-bedroom condo, the median was $700,000 compared with $968,500.
What you save: About 41% on a 4-bedroom house, 28% on a 3-bedroom condo, and 39% on a 2-bedroom condo.
What you trade: The trip downtown is longer, and there are fewer high-rise buildings with doormen and amenities.
My advice: If you want a walkable neighborhood and do not need to be near the lake, Lincoln Square deserves a place on your list. I would pay particular attention to the location within the neighborhood and how convenient it is for your daily routine.
My office is on Lincoln Avenue, so this is an area I know well. You can read my Lincoln Square home prices breakdown and Lincoln Square neighborhood guide, or browse homes for sale in Lincoln Square.
Then I would approach your search differently. If being near Lake Michigan is one of your priorities, I would not suggest moving west simply because the neighborhood median prices are lower.
Instead, I would look north along the lakefront, especially at Edgewater, Buena Park, and Uptown.
In my experience, a comparable condo in Edgewater is often at least 30% cheaper than in Lincoln Park, while still giving you access to beaches and the lakefront path. You would still want to compare the actual properties and locations before deciding where the better value is.
My guide to living in Edgewater is a good place to start.
When buyers tell me they love Lincoln Park, I always want to know exactly what they love about it. Is it the location? The beautiful residential streets? The lake? Or the convenience of being able to walk to restaurants and shops?
Once we know the answer, choosing which neighborhoods to explore becomes much easier.
My suggestion is to spend time in the neighborhoods before you start making decisions about individual homes. Get coffee, walk the residential streets, visit the shopping areas, and test the train or drive you would take to work. A neighborhood can look perfect online but feel completely different once you are there.
And if you already own a home in Lincoln Park, there is another decision to make before you begin looking: what happens with your current property?
Depending on your finances and timing, you may need to sell before buying, or you may have the flexibility to purchase your next home first. That is something I would discuss early so we can plan the search and your sale together.
I cover that decision in my article on whether to buy first or sell first.
If you are moving to Chicago, my article on the Chicago neighborhoods relocators get wrong is another helpful starting point. You can also compare what different budgets buy in my $1 million North Side comparison.
Absolutely, for the right buyer. And I would never recommend leaving Lincoln Park just because another neighborhood has lower median sale prices.
If you love being able to walk to the zoo, enjoy the lakefront, or take the Red Line downtown, those are meaningful parts of your daily life. Lincoln Park offers a combination of location, neighborhood character, and convenience that is hard to duplicate exactly.
But if the price of the home you want is making you reconsider your options, I would encourage you to explore these other neighborhoods before deciding how much to spend.
There is no reason to assume that your next home needs to be in the same neighborhood as your current one. Sometimes moving a little farther north or west opens up options you had not considered.
And sometimes, after looking at everything, you realize Lincoln Park is still where you want to be. That is a perfectly good outcome too.
If you are weighing that decision, read my pros and cons of living in Lincoln Park, my Lincoln Park luxury buyer's guide, and my 60614 market report.
Choosing your next home is about more than finding a property you like. It is also about understanding the neighborhoods, recognizing a fair price, and making sure the purchase fits your plans.
I have spent my real estate career helping buyers and sellers navigate the Chicago market, and I bring that experience to every neighborhood comparison and home search.
I work with homeowners who are ready for their next property, including luxury home buyers, and people relocating to Chicago who need help understanding which neighborhoods make sense for their needs.
If you are moving here from another city, you can learn more about how I help buyers on my Chicago relocation page.
Lakeview, directly north of Lincoln Park, is one of the closest matches. It offers vintage homes, lakefront parks, Red and Brown Line stops, and walkable shopping streets. In the last 12 months, a 4-bedroom or larger house sold for a median price about 25% lower than in Lincoln Park.
I would start with North Center, Roscoe Village, Bucktown, and Logan Square. In the last 12 months, a 4-bedroom or larger house sold for a median of $1,825,000 in North Center, $1,875,000 in Bucktown, and $1,200,000 in Logan Square, compared with $2,731,250 in Lincoln Park, based on the MLS. These are neighborhood medians, not prices for equivalent homes.
For houses, the median sale price is lower. In the last 12 months, the median Bucktown house sold for $1,700,000, compared with $2,575,000 in Lincoln Park. For 2-bedroom condos, the difference was only about 7%. Individual property prices depend on the home and its location.
Yes, based on the median sale prices in my MLS research. In the last 12 months, the typical Lakeview condo or townhome sold for $515,000 and the typical house for $1,905,604, compared with $735,000 and $2,575,000 in Lincoln Park. The actual difference depends on the type of home you are considering.
Many are. More than half of the condos in all six neighborhoods sold over their list price in the last 12 months, from 53% in Lakeview to 65% in Bucktown. Houses were close behind, with about half selling over asking in every neighborhood here except Lincoln Park, where 37% did. Lower median sale prices do not necessarily mean less competition.
East Lakeview, Buena Park, Uptown, and Edgewater all sit along the lakefront. In my experience, a similar condo in Edgewater is often at least 30% cheaper than in Lincoln Park. I would compare the individual properties and their locations before making a decision.
If you love Lincoln Park but are considering buying a house or moving into a different type of home, I would be happy to help you compare your options.
Tell me what you love about your current neighborhood, what you want in your next home, and what you are comfortable spending. I will tell you which Chicago neighborhoods I would look at first and why.
And if you already own a home, we can also talk about how selling your current property fits into the plan. I would rather help you figure that out before you find a home you love than have you make decisions under pressure later.
You can schedule a complimentary consultation or call or text me at 773.719.0989.
If you are still exploring Chicago neighborhoods, you can also get my free Chicago relocation guide or my free Chicago Buyer's Course.
Dee Savic is a Chicago Realtor® with Baird & Warner, a 24+ year real estate professional, and a 27+ year Chicago resident with 300+ closed transactions. She helps buyers, sellers, downsizers, and relocation clients across Chicago, including Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, North Center, Roscoe Village, Andersonville, Uptown, Bucktown, Wicker Park, and the Gold Coast.
Dee Savic
Realtor® | Baird & Warner
4553 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
773.719.0989
[email protected]
deesavic.com
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I'm Dee Savic, your trusted Chicago real estate expert, and I'm here to guide you through your relocation journey. Discover why Chicago is the perfect city for you; from its diverse neighborhoods to its cultural vibrancy, Chicago offers an unmatched urban experience. Together, we'll find a community and home that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
