While on-air, The Real World: Chicago consistently received high viewer ratings, and also broke several records. The September 11th episode holds the record for the highest ratings ever in the history of The Real World and still remains the highest rated episode of any show ever on MTV, according to Nielsen Media Research. The season finale of the Chicago season has the second highest ratings ever for MTV and The Real World.

Along with high ratings, the Chicago season also received critical acclaim. Nikki Carra, of The Chicago Tribune, pointed out that the show dealt with the September 11th Attacks in the "most appropriate and emotionally impacting way possible". John Algerson of USA Today even went as far to say that MTV "has finally captured the voice of Generation Y, ...and has returned to the character-driven roots of the original, The Real World: New York". Finally, GLAAD responded enthusiastically to the two gay characters, a first for The Real World, by saying that "With the Chicago season, The Real World has returned to not only being a pioneer in reality tv, but also a pioneer in the visibility of the LGBT community."

MTV Official Web Site: Real World Chicago

Wikipedia: The Real World Chicago