Where Does Chicago’s Queer Population Live?
Mapping LGBTQ+ Chicagoans by Census Tracts
Purpose
The purpose of this map is to visualize the concentration of LGBT+ Chicagoans by showing where same-sex households make up a larger share of all couple households. This measure provides a proxy for understanding patterns of LGBT+ residency across Chicago’s neighborhoods and how those patterns vary geographically.
Background
Chicago has long been home to diverse LGBT+ communities, with neighborhoods like Lakeview, Andersonville and Northalsted being well known enclaves for this population. However, the distribution of LGBT+ residents extends far beyond these areas. By mapping these households as a share of all couple households, we can better understand how the city’s queer population has both concentrated and dispersed over time in response to shifting economic and social factors.
Methodology and Data Sources
Data for this map comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates. Using ACS table B09019 detailing household composition by couple type, including same-sex married, same-sex unmarried, opposite-sex married, and opposite-sex unmarried, I calculated the percentage of same-sex households out of all couple households for each census tract in Chicago. These tract-level percentages represent the share of households likely identifying as LGBT+. The resulting dataset was joined to geographic boundaries from the U.S. Census TIGER/Line shapefiles to produce the final spatial visualization.
Using these geographies with a percentage attached I was able to create a choropleth map showing the value differentiation across the city.