Chicago Ward Boundaries: 2023 Redistricting

Chicago's 50 ward boundaries are defined from May 2023 onward, following the election of a new City Council. The dataset is inherently tabular but contains geometry data for mapping, with columns suggesting spatial attributes like area and perimeter. The publisher explicitly warns that neither the description nor the data should be relied upon where legal precision is required.

Use Cases

• Mapping electoral districts using the_geom and Ward columns
• Calculating ward area and perimeter for resource allocation using st_area_sh and st_length_
• Tracking administrative edits to boundary geometry via edit_date and globalid
• Linking ward-specific data from other sources using ward_id

Strengths

• Cross-platform presence on Socrata and Data.gov signals importance and official status
• Provides a specific effective date (May 2023) for the new boundaries
• Contains geometry data (the_geom) enabling direct spatial analysis and visualization

Limitations

• Critical metadata like row count, license, author, and file size is missing or inconsistent across platforms
• The publisher includes a legal disclaimer advising against use where precision is required
• The last updated date conflicts between sources (2026 03 15 vs 2026 03 09), raising questions about update frequency

Provenance

Source

City of Chicago

Collection Method

Likely derived from official city ordinances and geographic information systems following the 2023 elections.

Time Range

From May 2023 onward

Freshness

Last updated date is reported as 2026-03-15 on one platform and 2026-03-09 on another.

Geography

City of Chicago, Illinois, USA