Chicago’s bike-rack records split in two, and the halves were never merged. The current file is, by its own description, racks installed from 2015 on: 9,449 records that reach every one of the 77 community areas, led by West Town’s 739 and the Loop’s 730. The older records live in a separate file of 5,164 rows that froze in August 2011, kept for historical reference — and by the two files’ own descriptions, anything installed between that freeze and 2015 appears in neither. The city’s description of the current file says “We hope eventually to consolidate the data into this dataset.” Until someone does, no complete count of Chicago’s bike racks exists in either file, and no figure on this page adds the two.
Bike Racks + Bike Racks – Historical, Chicago data portal · current file updated June 3, 2026; historical file last updated August 20, 2011 · both retrieved August 16, 2026A registry of installs, not a census
The current file records installations — one row per recorded placement, with coordinates, a type label, and a quantity column. This page counts records: 9,449. The quantity column sums to 15,275, and that sum is reported here as the column’s own total and nothing more, because the file never states its unit — corral type labels carry their own rack counts, so a row labeled “Corral (5 Racks)” with a quantity of 1 could stand for five racks or one corral, and the file does not say which. Twenty-one records carry a quantity of zero. A record here is a recorded installation since 2015, not proof a rack stands today, and racks on private property have no reason to appear at all.
Where the installs went
- West Town739
- The Loop730
- Lake View610
- Near North Side524
- Logan Square484
Every community area’s count, in text
West Town 739; Loop 730; Lake View 610; Near North Side 524; Logan Square 484; Near West Side 441; Uptown 336; Lincoln Park 327; Belmont Cragin 285; Lincoln Square 271; Edgewater 250; Lower West Side 248; North Center 229; Portage Park 199; Rogers Park 185; Avondale 168; North Lawndale 165; Albany Park 161; Austin 155; South Lawndale 153; Irving Park 119; Humboldt Park 117; Near South Side 114; Hyde Park 106; Bridgeport 102; Roseland 91; New City 87; Norwood Park 86; West Ridge 86; East Side 85; South Shore 82; Brighton Park 80; East Garfield Park 72; Dunning 70; South Chicago 64; Beverly 63; Auburn Gresham 62; Chicago Lawn 61; Forest Glen 59; Morgan Park 54; Greater Grand Crossing 53; North Park 53; Grand Boulevard 49; Armour Square 47; Chatham 47; Englewood 47; Jefferson Park 47; Douglas 46; McKinley Park 44; Edison Park 43; Ashburn 42; Woodlawn 42; West Garfield Park 41; Hermosa 39; Washington Heights 39; Garfield Ridge 34; West Lawn 34; Kenwood 32; West Pullman 32; Gage Park 31; Mount Greenwood 26; South Deering 25; West Englewood 24; Clearing 22; Hegewisch 21; Montclare 20; Pullman 20; Washington Park 20; Archer Heights 18; West Elsdon 18; Calumet Heights 17; Avalon Park 14; Riverdale 13; Fuller Park 9; Oakland 9; O’Hare 7; Burnside 3.
West Town leads with 739 records and the Loop sits nine behind at 730, with Lake View, the Near North Side, and Logan Square filling out the top five — but the registry’s reach is the wider fact: all 77 community areas hold at least one recorded installation since 2015. The geography measures where installs were recorded in this file’s decade, not where every rack in the city stands.
What the file says they are
More than half the records — 5,124 of 9,449, 54 percent — carry no type label at all. Among the 4,325 that do, the file’s own labels run to 27 values: Rack – Type B covers 3,985, 92 percent of the typed records; 136 records carry corral labels of various sizes; and the tail holds the file’s oddities, including six records typed Street Sign – Ex-Divvy and two typed Parking Meter. The labels are printed as the file spells them, and this page groups nothing beyond them.
Known limits
Two files, two eras: the current file’s records begin in 2015, the historical file froze in 2011, and because the city’s own documentation treats consolidation as unfinished, no figure here combines them or claims a citywide rack count. A record is a recorded installation, not a verified standing rack; removals and replacements are not something either file discloses. The quantity column’s unit is unstated and its sum is reported as-is. These are the city’s records of its own program; racks installed privately are invisible to both files. The file’s location-name column is not used in any figure on this page.
- Sources Bike Racks (hgdw-64h3, 9,449 rows, updated June 3, 2026) and Bike Racks – Historical (cbyb-69xx, 5,164 rows, last updated August 20, 2011), both retrieved August 16, 2026. The current file’s own description dates its contents to installs from 2015 through 2026 and calls consolidation with the older file hoped-for.
- Counting Counts are records (rows). The quantity column is summed once and reported as the column’s own total, unit unstated by the file; 21 records carry quantity zero. Type figures use the file’s exact labels; 5,124 records with an empty type are counted as untyped. The two files are never combined in any figure.
- Geography Each current-file record was placed by its recorded coordinates against the city’s community-area boundary polygons (Boundaries – Community Areas, igwz-8jzy, GeoJSON export retrieved August 16, 2026) by point-in-polygon with the even-odd rule; 9,448 of 9,449 place, and one record without a usable point is excluded from area counts.
Computed by KCM Desk from records retrieved August 16, 2026. If you spot an error, corrections come first.