Chicago area has the largest homes among US metros — but apartment sizes are shrinking (2024)

Chicago is known as the Second City, but when it comes to the size of single-family homes, the Windy City takes the top spot.

Among the country’s 20 largest metropolitan areas, Chicago takes first place for having the biggest homes, according to data from a recent study. When it comes to apartment sizes though, the city falls toward the bottom of the list, with its average apartment growing smaller over time.

Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas rounded out the top five cities with the largest homes in 2019, respectively. The study, published in September, analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and real estate databases like Yardi Matrix.

And the amount of growth in Chicago-area homes was also the most drastic, with a 38% increase since 2010. Comparatively, newly built homes in the other top cities grew between 6% and 20%.

Between 2010 and 2019, newly built single-family homes in the Chicago area grew by more than 900 square feet on average, yet the average apartment in the area shrank by more than 50 square feet, according to the study.

The home size fluctuations in Chicago align with national trends: American houses have grown by more than 140 square feet — roughly the size of an additional bedroom — and apartments have shrunk by approximately 90 feet in the same time span.

Averaging 793 square feet, Chicago apartments are smaller than the national average, which measures around 1,156 square feet.

With the rise of micro-apartments, sometimes under 300 square feet — or with creative additions like robotic furniture helping to slim down space — it doesn’t come as a surprise that apartments are shrinking on average, said Chicago-based real estate agent Sam Jenkins of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty.

Essentially, he said, it comes down to affordability.

“Generally (for) younger people who want to be in a certain location, you get priced out the market,” he said. “So developers are trying to deliver a unit that someone can pay $2,000 a month for and still be in the location they want, and that unit becomes smaller to achieve that.”

The most expensive neighborhoods in Chicago for renters are downtown or in popular entertainment districts, according to February data from RentCafe. River North tops the list with an average monthly rent of $2,600, followed by Streeterville, River West and the Loop, where rents average between $2,534 and $2,566.

Other neighborhoods with high average rents include Ukrainian Village ($2,483), Wicker Park ($2,483), Printer’s Row ($2,443) and Little Italy ($2,379). Comparatively, neighborhoods with the least expensive average rents include Austin ($562), Pullman ($612), Englewood ($842), Pilsen ($887), West Garfield Park ($911) and Little Village ($1,060).

Fewer people are going to be able to afford a large apartment in River North, so developers look to maximize cost and space, Jenkins said.

“As a developer, if you can build three 600 square foot studios and get $1,800 a month, there’s a lot more people who can afford that. You’ve got more of a chance of filling your unit up at a higher price per square foot, and delivering more units,” Jenkins said. “It seemed like the market didn’t demand lavish room sizes — they just wanted to be in the right location.”

Conversely, single-family homes throughout Chicago and its surrounding areas surpassed the national average for home size — 2,611 square feet — and added an extra 916 square feet since 2010. Now, the average newly built home in the Chicago area totals 3,330 square feet.

The 38% increase occurred over a decade where the size of newly built homes ebbed and flowed. The figure increased in the first five years of the decade, then began a downward trend in 2016, the study showed. But that number began to rebound last year.

Most people want the biggest bang for their bucks, so developers are having to meet the demand, Jenkins said.

“I think people are saying, ‘Well if I’ve got, potentially, two kids, then I need a bedroom for everyone ... a guest room, and then if I’m gonna spend ($1.5 million), I want a gym or an office as well,’” Jenkins said. “So developers are forced then to deliver the product which requires these amount of rooms, which therefore increases the size of the home.”

While individual rooms might not be getting bigger, it’s more common to see extra rooms added to homes, he said. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and crystallized the trend a bit more, Jenkins said. Now that the home has become an office, a workout space, and a child care center, people are wanting more dedicated spaces.

“It’s about separation within a house,” said Jenkins, who has been working real estate in the city and suburbs for 16 years. “If I have to take a call, where can I go? If I need to be here all day and all night, I need a second TV room or a playroom or whatever. So people are demanding these rooms, rather than seeing them as a luxury.”

Nationally, half of homes built in 2019 had at least four bedrooms, while 90% had at least three.

Anecdotally, Jenkins said he has also seen more interest in designated spaces from apartment dwellers as the public health crisis continues into the unforeseeable future. Perhaps, he said, the rental market for smaller spaces will fall off — but it’s too soon to tell.

As for single-family homes, some city folk may find themselves with fewer neighbors as people continue to search for larger homes with ample outdoor space, he said.

“There may be less demand in the city for what was a decent size single-family home, because there might be increased demand in areas that can give you more space — i.e., the suburbs,” he said.

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chrjohnson@chicagotribune.com