Renting With a Section 8 Voucher in East Garfield Park, Chicago: 2026 Guide
Quick answerIn East Garfield Park, Chicago, as of October 8, 2026, a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) voucher is measured against one citywide payment standard per voucher size. CHA's plan keeps that standard within 90% to 110% of HUD's Fair Market Rent, which is $2,011 for two bedrooms in FY2027. No CHA dollar schedule was found on thecha.org. Active East Garfield Park listings on VoucherMatch right now: 1.
Last checked: October 8, 2026, against CHA's Administrative Plan (effective October 1, 2025), Participant Guidebook and web pages, HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rents, the Illinois Department of Human Rights source-of-income page, CMAP's Community Data Snapshot (June 2026 release), the City's boundary files and the CTA's station and bus stop pages.
- $2,011HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Chicago area
- 120 daysCHA's search term, from moving papers to a submitted Request for Tenancy Approval
- 40%most of adjusted monthly income a family may pay at first lease-up when the rent is over the standard
- 1active listings in East Garfield Park on VoucherMatch right now
- 68.5%share of occupied homes in East Garfield Park that are rented, 2020-2024
Current East Garfield Park listings
The table below is live: it reads VoucherMatch's active listings in East Garfield Park when the page loads, and it can show none.
| East Garfield Park listings on VoucherMatch | Right now |
|---|---|
| Active listings | 1 |
| Bedroom mix | One is a 3-bedroom |
| Lowest asking rent | $2,200 |
| Median asking rent | $2,200 |
| Highest asking rent | $2,200 |
What it means: add the utilities you would pay to an asking rent before comparing it with your CHA Rent Burden Worksheet.
Source: VoucherMatch listings in East Garfield Park.
- 3BR listed at $2,200, 2 bath
Contact details are on the East Garfield Park apartment page.
The rent figure to use for an East Garfield Park proposal
Use CHA's payment standard for your voucher size, one citywide figure. CHA's Administrative Plan, effective October 1, 2025, says its standards are "the same across the entire service area", sit between 90 and 110 percent of HUD's Fair Market Rent, and that CHA "has not adopted the use of Small Area Fair Market Rents".
VoucherMatch found no CHA page or file that prints the dollar amounts, so the table gives HUD's benchmark and the plan's band.
View the data table
| Unit size | 90% of HUD's figure | HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rent | 110% of HUD's figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,510 | $1,678 | $1,846 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,602 | $1,780 | $1,958 |
| 2 bedrooms | $1,810 | $2,011 | $2,212 |
| 3 bedrooms | $2,327 | $2,586 | $2,845 |
| 4 bedrooms | $2,659 | $2,954 | $3,249 |
What it means: your own budget is on the Rent Burden Worksheet CHA sends with your moving papers.
Source: HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL HUD Metro FMR Area, effective October 1, 2026. The 90% and 110% columns are VoucherMatch's arithmetic from section 16-II.B of CHA's plan.
Watch outCHA's plan also allows exception payment standards of up to 150 percent of HUD's figure, approved case by case for addresses in CHA Mobility Areas. VoucherMatch has not classified East Garfield Park. Check the address on the map on CHA's Mobility Counseling page, where Mobility Areas show in green, and ask CHA for the amount.
Your share follows federal rules. You pay about 30% of adjusted monthly income (24 CFR 982.515). If rent plus utilities is over the standard you pay the excess, up to 40% of adjusted income at first lease-up (24 CFR 982.508), and CHA must find the rent reasonable against comparable units (24 CFR 982.507).
ExampleVoucherMatch's example, with made-up figures. Suppose CHA's two-bedroom standard equalled HUD's $2,011 and a family's adjusted monthly income is $1,800. Their base share is $540 and their 40% limit is $720. At rent plus utilities of $2,150 the share is $679, which passes; at $2,250 it is $779, which does not.
The Chicago payment guide works through the calculation, how much Section 8 pays for a 2-bedroom compares metros, and how the utility allowance works explains that part.
Compare the actual block and unit
East Garfield Park is Chicago community area 27, and more than half of its homes are in buildings of two to four units, so compare unit by unit.
- Renters68.5% of occupied homes are renter-occupied, against 54.0% for the City of Chicago.
- Building type28.4% of homes are in two-unit buildings and 24.6% in buildings of three or four units; 15.7% are in buildings of 20 or more.
- Size32.4% of homes have three bedrooms and 29.2% have two; 22.7% have one bedroom or none.
What it means: ask which utilities the rent includes. CHA's utility allowance schedule, effective November 1, 2025, has separate tables by building type.
Source: CMAP, East Garfield Park Community Data Snapshot, June 2026 release, from 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates; the number 27 is from the City's community area boundary file.
What is the East Garfield Park ZIP code?
VoucherMatch's East Garfield Park page uses ZIP code 60624. The CTA's station pages show two ZIP codes inside the community area: 60624 for the Kedzie and Conservatory-Central Park Drive Green Line stations, and 60612 for California and Kedzie-Homan.
The City's neighborhood boundary file labels the wider area "Garfield Park", so the same answer covers a search for the Garfield Park ZIP code. The rent-data pages for ZIP 60624 and ZIP 60612 show HUD's ZIP-level figures, which are not CHA's standard.
Getting around East Garfield Park: CTA trains and buses
Two 'L' lines have stations in East Garfield Park: three on the Green Line and one on the Blue Line's Forest Park branch.
| Service | Stations or stops in East Garfield Park | Note from the CTA |
|---|---|---|
| Green Line | California (2800 W. Lake St.), Kedzie (3200 W. Lake St.), Conservatory-Central Park Drive (3631 W. Lake St.) | All three marked accessible |
| Blue Line, Forest Park branch | Kedzie-Homan (530 S. Kedzie Ave.) | Marked accessible |
| Bus 52 Kedzie | Kedzie at Lake, Madison, Jackson and Harrison | Connects at both Kedzie stations |
| Bus 94 California | California at Lake, Madison, Jackson and Harrison | Connects at California station |
| Bus 82 Kimball-Homan | Homan at Lake, Madison, Jackson and Harrison | Connects at Kedzie-Homan |
| Bus 20 Madison | Madison at California, Kedzie, Homan and Central Park | Owl service |
| Buses 126 Jackson and 7 Harrison | Each at California, Kedzie and Homan | 7 connects at Kedzie-Homan |
What it means: check the stop for each address. No Metra page could be opened, so Metra is left out.
Source: CTA Green Line and Blue Line pages, the station pages for California, Kedzie, Conservatory-Central Park Drive and Kedzie-Homan, and the stop lists on each CTA bus route page. VoucherMatch matched the CTA's 'L' stop list and bus stop file to the City's boundary file.
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How to make an offer on an East Garfield Park unit with a CHA voucher
CHA screens the owner, sets the rent and inspects the unit before a move-in date is agreed.
- 1Check your clockyou have 120 days from moving papers to submit a Request for Tenancy Approval (RTA) packet. CHA's plan allows extensions of up to 60 days at a time, on a written request.
- 2Read your worksheetthe Rent Burden Worksheet gives your budget for rent and utilities.
- 3Complete the RTA with the owneran owner already in the program uploads it in CHA's HCV Owner Portal. Your search time freezes once it is in.
- 4Owner screeningCHA runs a background check on the owner.
- 5Rent offerCHA weighs the payment standard, comparable unsubsidized rents, utilities and your income.
- 6Inspectionthe unit must pass CHA's Initial Inspection. After a fail the owner has 14 days to repair; a second fail ends the request.
- 7Lease and contractyou and the owner sign the lease, and the owner signs a Housing Assistance Payment contract with CHA.
What it means: CHA says processing takes about seven weeks, and it does not pay application fees, move-in fees or security deposits.
Source: CHA's Move to a New Home, Owner Portal and Inspections pages, its Participant Guidebook (June 2025) and section 5-II.C of the Administrative Plan.
- Your voucher and RTA packet, showing the bedroom size and expiration date
- Your Rent Burden Worksheet
- A question: which utilities does the rent include?
- The pre-inspection checklist for a first look at the unit
Widen the search without copying a budget
Four community areas share a side with East Garfield Park in the City's boundary file, and the same CHA standard applies in each.
| Community area | City number | Section 8 listings | Shared CTA service in the pages read |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Garfield Park | 26 | West Garfield Park | Green and Blue Lines; buses 7, 20 and 126 |
| Humboldt Park | 23 | Humboldt Park | Buses 52, 82 and 94 |
| Near West Side | 28 | Near West Side | Green and Blue Lines; buses 7, 20 and 126 |
| North Lawndale | 29 | North Lawndale | Buses 52, 82 and 94 |
The Chicago apartment hub lists every area by bedroom size. A shared ZIP code or boundary does not carry a budget from one unit to the next.
Application and move questions
Does a 60624 HUD benchmark determine whether CHA will accept my rent?
No. CHA's plan says it has not adopted Small Area Fair Market Rents, so a ZIP figure is not its payment standard. One citywide standard applies for your voucher size.
Which Section 8 housing authority covers East Garfield Park?
The Chicago Housing Authority. A voucher from another agency follows the portability steps before CHA's rules apply.
How many listings are active in East Garfield Park?
The live count on VoucherMatch is 1, and it can be zero.
Can a landlord in East Garfield Park refuse my voucher?
Source of income is protected by the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance and, since January 2023, the Illinois Human Rights Act. The state's page says an owner is not required to lower a rent. Complaints go to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations within 365 days, or to the state department within one year.
Next step: read the budget on your Rent Burden Worksheet, open the current East Garfield Park listings, and ask each owner which utilities the rent includes. For CHA's offices use the Chicago agency guide; without a voucher, start with open waiting lists.
Sources for this article (23)
- Administrative Plan (thecha.org)
- HUD Fair Market Rents (huduser.gov)
- Mobility Counseling page (thecha.org)
- 24 CFR 982.515 (ecfr.gov)
- 24 CFR 982.508 (ecfr.gov)
- 24 CFR 982.507 (ecfr.gov)
- East Garfield Park Community Data Snapshot (cmap.illinois.gov)
- community area boundary file (data.cityofchicago.org)
- utility allowance schedule (thecha.org)
- Green Line (transitchicago.com)
- Blue Line (transitchicago.com)
- California (transitchicago.com)
- Kedzie (transitchicago.com)
- Conservatory-Central Park Drive (transitchicago.com)
- Kedzie-Homan (transitchicago.com)
- 'L' stop list (data.cityofchicago.org)
- bus stop file (data.cityofchicago.org)
- Move to a New Home (thecha.org)
- Owner Portal (thecha.org)
- Inspections (thecha.org)
- Participant Guidebook (thecha.org)
- Illinois Human Rights Act (dhr.illinois.gov)
- Chicago Commission on Human Relations (chicago.gov)
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Every rule, date and dollar amount in this article is checked against the agency document it comes from, and the sources are listed above. How VoucherMatch articles are researched and corrected
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