Find Studio Apartments for Rent

Find Cheap Apartments in Chicago

Downsizing may not be the way to go for every apartment renter. But for those who embrace the minimalist lifestyle, studio apartments mean you get more familiar with the space surrounding your apartment rather than the contents within it. It’s a nice way to get to know the area if you’re new to Chicago or have recently moved to an unfamiliar neighborhood. And don’t forget the most important thing about renting a studio apartment: you can save money on rent. 

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Studio apartments near downtown Chicago tend to be in high-rise buildings, meaning more modern amenities such as on-site laundry, fitness centers and retail on the ground floor. Some of the newer buildings offer really spectacular amenity spaces such as rooftop terraces, yoga rooms and sophisticated lounges that can easily function as impromptu office space thanks to high-speed WiFi.

Looking for cheap apartments? Start looking in one of these Chicago neighborhoods

People searching for cheap studio apartments may have to look a bit further outside of downtown Chicago, where the median rental price for a studio apartment listed on Domu was $1,650 in 2017. That’s higher than the citywide median rental price for studios listed on Domu, which was $1,302 in 2017.

Spending a bit less on rent in comparison to more generous apartment floor plans may put money back into renters’ pockets for other expenses, such as parking or groceries. If you can do without certain luxuries, say like having a car, then renting a studio near downtown Chicago could still work out to be a reasonable bet. Studios near downtown provide great access to public transportation as well as the best amenities the city has to offer -- most of them within walking distance. Keep in mind that the affordability index of cheap apartments tends to go up the further you get from downtown. 

In terms of inventory, the most apartments for rent in any of these 10 most affordable neighborhoods were found in Uptown. There's a wide range of available rentals at any given time in Uptown, Chicago’s home for ornate old theaters and endearing jazz clubs that hearken back to a Prohibition-era vibe, but it did have the largest inventory of apartments for rent under $1,500 per month over the last year. 

With all this in mind during your search for cheap apartments in Chicago, it’s worth mentioning that this list looks only at neighborhoods that had a minimum of 100 active listings on Domu throughout the previous year. Some neighborhoods didn’t meet that criteria but may offer cheaper average listing prices. You can always search for apartments in Chicago based on price using Domu’s apartment finder.