Renting With a Section 8 Voucher in East Village, Chicago: 2026 Guide
Quick answerIn East Village, Chicago, as of October 8, 2026, a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) voucher is measured against one citywide payment standard per voucher size, which CHA's plan keeps within 90% to 110% of HUD's Fair Market Rent ($2,011 for two bedrooms, FY2027). No CHA dollar schedule was found on thecha.org. East Village sits inside the West Town community area. Active East Village 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 Housing Authority of Cook County's About page, the Illinois Department of Human Rights source-of-income page, CMAP's West Town Community Data Snapshot (June 2026 release), the City's boundary files and the CTA's station and 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
- 1active listings in East Village on VoucherMatch right now
- 24the City's number for West Town, the community area that contains East Village
- 58.1%share of occupied homes in West Town that are rented, 2020-2024
Looking for the East Village in Manhattan? This page covers Chicago; start with Section 8 in New York.
Current East Village listings
This table is live: it reads VoucherMatch's active East Village listings when the page loads, and there may be none.
| East Village listings on VoucherMatch | Right now |
|---|---|
| Active listings | 1 |
| Bedroom mix | One is a 3-bedroom |
| Lowest asking rent | $2,450 |
| Median asking rent | $2,450 |
| Highest asking rent | $2,450 |
What it means: compare an asking rent with your CHA Rent Burden Worksheet only after adding the utilities you would pay.
Source: VoucherMatch listings in East Village.
- 3BR listed at $2,450, 1 bath
Contact details are on the East Village apartment page.
The rent figure to use for an East Village proposal
A CHA voucher in East Village uses CHA's payment standard for the voucher size, one citywide schedule. CHA's Administrative Plan, effective October 1, 2025, says its standards are "the same across the entire service area", fall 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".
A search of thecha.org turned up no page or PDF with the dollar amounts, so the table shows 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: CHA sends a Rent Burden Worksheet with your moving papers, and that is your own budget.
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 Village or West Town. 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: 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 three-bedroom standard equalled HUD's $2,586 and a family's adjusted monthly income is $2,400. Their base share is $720 and their 40% limit is $960. At rent plus utilities of $2,800 the share is $934, which passes; at $2,900 it is $1,034, 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 Village is one part of West Town, community area 24, so the address matters more than the label. The City's neighborhood boundary file draws East Village wholly inside West Town. VoucherMatch's East Village page uses ZIP codes 60642 and 60622.
- Renters58.1% of occupied homes are renter-occupied, against 54.0% for the City of Chicago.
- Building type32.1% of homes are in buildings of three or four units and 22.8% in buildings of five to nine; 13.9% are in buildings of 20 or more.
- Size45.2% of homes have two bedrooms, 24.8% have three and 20.6% have one bedroom or none.
What it means: two-bedroom homes are the most common size in West Town.
Source: CMAP, West Town Community Data Snapshot, June 2026 release, from 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates. The figures cover all of West Town, of which East Village is one part. The number 24 is from the City's community area boundary file.
Ask which utilities each rent includes: CHA's utility allowance schedule, effective November 1, 2025, has separate tables by building type. The rent-data pages for ZIP 60642 and ZIP 60622 show HUD's ZIP-level figures, which are not CHA's standard.
Getting around East Village: Blue Line and CTA buses
Four CTA bus routes have stops inside East Village as the City draws it: 9, 50, 66 and 70. The Blue Line's Division and Chicago stations are in the adjoining part of West Town.
| Service | Station or stops | Note from the CTA |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Line, Division | 1200 N. Milwaukee Ave., ZIP 60622 | Connects with buses 9, X9, 56 and 70 |
| Blue Line, Chicago | 800 N. Milwaukee Ave., ZIP 60622 | Connects with buses 56 and 66 |
| Bus 70 Division | Division at Ashland, Wood and Damen | Stops inside East Village |
| Bus 66 Chicago | Chicago at Ashland, Wood and Damen | Stops inside East Village; owl service |
| Bus 9 Ashland | Ashland at Division and Chicago | Stops inside East Village; owl service |
| Bus 50 Damen | Damen at Division and Chicago | Stops inside East Village |
| Bus 56 Milwaukee | Milwaukee at Ashland/Division and at Chicago | Serves both Blue Line stations |
What it means: check the stop for each address. No Metra page could be opened, so Metra is left out.
Source: the CTA Blue Line page, the station pages for Division and Chicago, and the stop lists on the CTA's bus route pages. VoucherMatch matched the CTA's 'L' stop list and bus stop file to the City's boundary files. Neither station page carries the CTA's accessible label.
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How to make an offer on an East Village unit with a CHA voucher
CHA approves the owner, the rent and the unit, in that order.
- 1Check your clockCHA gives 120 days from moving papers to a submitted Request for Tenancy Approval (RTA) packet. Its plan allows extensions of up to 60 days at a time, on a written request.
- 2Read your worksheetCHA's Rent Burden Worksheet states 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 puts processing at 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
Three areas touch East Village in the City's neighborhood file, and CHA's citywide standard applies in each.
| Area touching East Village | Section 8 listings | CTA service in the pages read |
|---|---|---|
| Wicker Park | Wicker Park | Blue Line Damen station; buses 50, 56 and 70 |
| Ukrainian Village | Ukrainian Village | Buses 50, 66 and 70 |
| West Town (also the community area's name) | West Town | Blue Line Division and Chicago stations |
The Chicago apartment hub lists every area by bedroom size. Noble Square also has a page; the City's file does not draw it.
Application and move questions
What are the Chicago Housing Authority payment standards for 2026, and is there a PDF?
No CHA payment standard PDF was found on thecha.org. CHA's plan sets Chicago Section 8 payment standards between 90% and 110% of HUD's Fair Market Rent: $1,810 to $2,212 for two bedrooms on the FY2027 figure, by VoucherMatch's arithmetic.
Do Cook County payment standards for 2026 apply in East Village?
No. The Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) says it serves Cook County municipalities except Chicago and five others with their own agencies. HACC's 2026 Section 8 payment standards are in the Chicago payment guide.
Does the East Village neighborhood label choose a CHA rent amount?
No. CHA's standard depends on voucher size, not on the neighborhood name or ZIP code. ZIP code 60612 is not one VoucherMatch's East Village page uses; its figures are on the 60612 page.
Can a landlord in East Village 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 Village listings, and note each address's ZIP code. For CHA's offices use the Chicago agency guide; without a voucher, start with open waiting lists.
Sources for this article (21)
- 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)
- West Town Community Data Snapshot (cmap.illinois.gov)
- community area boundary file (data.cityofchicago.org)
- utility allowance schedule (thecha.org)
- Blue Line (transitchicago.com)
- Division (transitchicago.com)
- Chicago (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)
- Housing Authority of Cook County (thehacc.org)
- Illinois Human Rights Act (dhr.illinois.gov)
- Chicago Commission on Human Relations (chicago.gov)
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