HomeIndianaLake CountyEast Chicago city
East Chicago city, Indiana: commercial real estate data.
East Chicago city is a Census city of 26,022 people across 14.11 square miles of land, in Lake County. Median household income is $42,125, 42.9 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 11 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $1.5 m.
76 sourced place values · tier FULL · 8 sections
East Chicago
What East Chicago is
- Census place typecity
- Land area14.11 sq mi
- Water area0.69 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land1,844
- County holding the largest share of its areaLake County, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
East Chicago
How many people live in East Chicago
- Population26,022
- Median age36.5
- Population under 186,575
- Share under 1825.3 percent
- Population 65 and over3,676
- Share 65 and over14.1 percent
- Households9,943
- Family households5,712
- Share of households that are families57.4 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
East Chicago
Income and work in East Chicago
- Median household income$42,125
- Per capita income$23,656
- Civilian labor force11,629
- Employed10,737
- Unemployed892 plus or minus 235
- Unemployment rate7.7 percent plus or minus 2.0
- Adults 25 and over16,874
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher73.8 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher10.7 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree3.4 percent plus or minus 1.0
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
East Chicago
Housing in East Chicago
- Housing units12,365
- Occupied units9,943
- Vacant units2,422
- Vacancy rate19.6 percent
- Owner occupied4,269
- Renter occupied5,674
- Ownership rate42.9 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$105,400
- Median gross rent, monthly$854
- Annual rent as a share of median income24.3 percent
- Single family units6,005
- Share single family48.6 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more6,324
- Share in buildings of two or more51.1 percent
- Mobile homes36 plus or minus 54
- Median year structure built1938
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
East Chicago
How East Chicago gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute9,986
- Commuting under 15 minutes4,002
- Share commuting under 15 minutes40.1 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more3,224
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more32.3 percent
- Drove alone75.3 percent
- Carpooled15.8 percent plus or minus 4.2
- Public transport1.0 percent plus or minus 0.6
- Walked1.5 percent plus or minus 0.8
- Worked from home4.6 percent plus or minus 1.8
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
East Chicago
SBA 7(a) lending to East Chicago borrowers
- Approvals11
- Gross approval$1,489,800
- Average approval$135,436
- Median approval$75,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$400,000
- Largest approval$488,700
- Jobs supported95
- Jobs per approval8.6
- Loans with a final outcome2
- Paid in full2
- Charged off0
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more27.3 percent
- Share to franchises9.1 percent
- Distinct lenders6
- Distinct industries by NAICS8
A charge-off rate is not published here. only 2 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a rate over that few outcomes would move several points on one loan.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
East Chicago
SBA 504 lending to East Chicago borrowers
- Approvals3
- Gross approval$1,196,000
- Average approval$398,667
- Median approval$514,000
- Largest approval$546,000
- Jobs supported32
- Loans with a final outcome1
- Charged off0
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs2
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Lake County, not East Chicago
Lake County context, not East Chicago figures
These are Lake County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as East Chicago measurements.
- Establishments in Lake County10,566
- Employment at those establishments, Lake County171,790
- Covered employment, Lake County191,633
- Average annual pay, Lake County$61,200
- Average weekly wage, Lake County$1,177
- Housing units permitted, Lake County1,649
- Of those, single family, Lake County1,621
- County product, 2024, Lake County$31,242,109,000
- County product change over the prior year, Lake County3.3 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Lake County$56,327
Every figure in this section is published for Lake County as a whole and is not a measurement of East Chicago. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- This place is not listed as a community in the FEMA Community Status Book, so no NFIP participation or CRS class is shown.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
East Chicago questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in East Chicago, Indiana?
26,022, in 9,943 households. East Chicago city covers 14.11 square miles of land, which is 1,844 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is East Chicago in?
Lake County, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in East Chicago?
$42,125. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $105,400. Median gross rent is $854 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to East Chicago businesses?
11 7(a) approvals totalling $1.5 m, across 6 lenders, median approval $75,000, plus 3 504 approvals worth $1.2 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in East Chicago, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to East Chicago borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for East Chicago. only 2 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a percentage over that few outcomes would move several points on a single loan. The counts are shown instead.
Are the county figures on this page East Chicago figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Lake County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of East Chicago.
Is zoning published for East Chicago?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.