CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — A new national report highlights the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area as one of the best places in America to live without heavily depending on a car. According to 2023 U.S. Census data analyzed by Datawrapper, the region ranks fourth nationwide for the number of residents living in areas where non-car commuting exceeds 50%.
The study examined the top 30 U.S. metropolitan regions with the highest populations living in neighborhoods where walking, biking, carpooling, or using public transportation are the main commuting methods — surpassing personal car use.
Chicago-Naperville’s Place Among the Nation’s Most Transit-Friendly Metros
The New York–Newark–Jersey City metro dominated the list with more than 7.3 million residents living in non-car-dominant areas. Following that, Boston-Cambridge-Newton and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington secured second and third place.
The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro came in fourth, with approximately 257,689 residents living in neighborhoods where fewer than half of commuters drive alone to work…