The short answer
In most Illinois cities and suburbs, property tax works out to about 2% to 3.5% of a home's market value before exemptions, among the highest in the country. Chicago is at the low end at about 2.1%. A few south suburbs of Cook County are far higher.
The number on your bill is a composite rate: the sum of every district that taxes your parcel (county, city or village, township, school districts, park district, library, college and others). It's applied to your equalized assessed value (EAV), not to market value. Two rules shape the conversion:
- Cook County assesses homes at 10% of market value, then the state multiplies by an equalization factor. For tax year 2025 the factor is 3.0300, so EAV is about 30.3% of market value.
- Every other county assesses at one-third of market value, with an equalization factor of about 1.
So the effective rate on market value is roughly the composite rate × 0.303 in Cook, and the composite rate ÷ 3 elsewhere. All figures here are for tax year 2025, the bills Illinois homeowners are paying in 2026, unless marked otherwise.
Chicago and Cook County suburbs (tax year 2025)
For suburbs, this is the Cook County Clerk's average composite rate per parcel in each municipality. Chicago's is its general city rate.
| Municipality | 2025 composite rate | 2024 rate | Effective rate (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Park | 11.665% | 11.209% | 3.53% |
| Cicero | 11.494% | 11.538% | 3.48% |
| Orland Park | 8.952% | 8.645% | 2.71% |
| Palatine | 8.747% | 10.294% | 2.65% |
| Skokie | 8.601% | 9.382% | 2.61% |
| Schaumburg | 8.540% | 9.588% | 2.59% |
| Arlington Heights | 8.339% | 9.602% | 2.53% |
| Elgin (Cook part) | 8.291% | 9.860% | 2.51% |
| Des Plaines | 7.966% | 8.873% | 2.41% |
| Evanston | 7.369% | 8.280% | 2.23% |
| Chicago | 6.853% | 6.619% | 2.08% |
Why did so many north suburban rates fall 10–16%? The north suburbs were reassessed for 2025, and their total EAV rose 21%. Districts still needed about the same levy, so rates dropped, but bills still rose (see below). Cook reassesses one-third of the county each year: Chicago was reassessed for 2024, the north suburbs for 2025 and the south and west suburbs for 2026.
What Cook County homeowners actually pay
The Cook County Treasurer's analysis of tax year 2025 bills shows these median homeowner bills:
| Area | Median homeowner bill (2025) | Change from 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | $4,597 | +3.2% |
| North & Northwest suburbs | $8,007 | +6.7% |
| South & Southwest suburbs | $6,468 | +3.4% |
The County Clerk also publishes sample bills for a $250,000 home with the homeowner exemption: $4,506 in Chicago, $5,257 in the north and northwest suburbs, $7,799 in the south and west suburbs and $5,045 in DuPage County. The north suburban figure assumes the home's value didn't change. If it rose by the 23.6% average from the reassessment, the bill comes to about $6,687.
The year before, Chicago saw its biggest jump in more than 30 years: the median homeowner bill rose 16.7% for tax year 2024 after the city was reassessed, with increases of over 99% in some West Side neighborhoods. If your bill jumped, our guide to why property tax bills go up explains the mechanics.
Highest and lowest rates in Cook County
| Highest | 2025 rate | Lowest suburbs | 2025 rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | 35.774% | Wilmette | 6.357% |
| Ford Heights | 30.273% | Northfield | 6.437% |
| Riverdale | 29.292% | Winnetka | 6.444% |
| Park Forest | 28.562% | Burr Ridge | 6.845% |
At Phoenix's rate, the effective tax is close to 11% of market value a year before exemptions. These are small south suburbs where property values are low and the tax base has shrunk, so the rate climbs to raise the same amount. Wilmette and Winnetka are the opposite: high values, so a low rate still produces large bills.
Collar counties and downstate
Outside Cook, homes are assessed at one-third of market value, so divide the rate by 3. These are the rates for the most common tax code in each city. The total depends on your school district, which is why Aurora has two lines.
| City | County | Composite rate | Effective rate (approx.) | Tax year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urbana (Urbana 116) | Champaign | 10.113% | 3.37% | 2025 |
| Peoria | Peoria | about 9.28% | 3.09% | 2024 |
| Bolingbrook (Will part) | Will | 8.962% | 2.99% | 2025 |
| Rockford | Winnebago | 8.829% | 2.94% | 2025 |
| Champaign (Unit 4) | Champaign | 8.404% | 2.80% | 2025 |
| Springfield | Sangamon | about 8.40% | 2.80% | 2024 |
| Joliet | Will | 8.031% | 2.68% | 2025 |
| Elgin (Kane part, U-46) | Kane | 7.629% | 2.54% | 2025 |
| Aurora (West Aurora 129) | Kane | 7.427% | 2.48% | 2025 |
| Aurora (East Aurora 131) | Kane | 6.531% | 2.18% | 2025 |
| Naperville | DuPage | 6.133% | 2.04% | 2024 |
DuPage County's average rate for 2025 was 6.697%, or about 2.23% of market value, making it one of the lower-taxed counties around Chicago. Its lowest rates are in Oak Brook, Willowbrook, Burr Ridge and Hinsdale, all under 5.2% for tax year 2024.
The Peoria and Springfield figures are our own sums of each district's published rate for the main city tax code, since those counties don't publish a single total. Rates in the 2025 column fell almost everywhere because assessed values rose.
A quick example
A $300,000 home in Naperville with the homeowner exemption: $300,000 ÷ 3 = $100,000 EAV, minus the $8,000 exemption that applies in counties next to Cook = $92,000 × 6.133% ≈ $5,640.
The same home in Chicago: $300,000 × 10% × 3.03 = $90,900 EAV, minus the $10,000 Cook exemption = $80,900 × 6.853% ≈ $5,544.
Downstate, the homeowner exemption is smaller ($6,000 of EAV), so it saves a bit less.
Exemptions and how to lower your bill
- General homestead exemption: $10,000 of EAV in Cook, $8,000 in DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane and McHenry, and $6,000 elsewhere. In Cook it's worth about $685 in Chicago at the 2025 rate. Check that it's on your bill.
- Senior exemption: $8,000 of EAV in Cook and the collar counties, $5,000 elsewhere, for homeowners 65 or older.
- Senior assessment freeze: freezes your assessed value if you're 65+ and household income is $65,000 or less for tax year 2025. A new law raises the limit to $75,000 for tax year 2026, $77,000 for 2027 and $79,000 from 2028. See our senior freeze guide for other states.
- Appeal your assessment. In Cook, you first appeal to the Assessor during your township's roughly 30-day window after reassessment notices go out, then to the Board of Review in a separate window. The deadline is on your notice. Elsewhere, file with the county Board of Review within 30 days of the assessment list being published. Our appeal guide covers the evidence that works.
In Cook County, the first installment (55% of the prior year's bill) comes due in early spring and the second in the fall. For tax year 2025, the first installment was due April 1, 2026 and the second October 1, 2026. Late payments cost 0.75% a month.
Where these numbers come from
Cook County rates, the equalization factor, sample bills and highest/lowest lists are from the Cook County Clerk's 2025 Tax Rate Report (September 2026). Median bills are from the Cook County Treasurer's tax year 2025 bill analysis (August 2026). Other counties' rates are from the 2025 tax code rate books of Kane, Will, Winnebago and Champaign counties, and from DuPage, Sangamon and Peoria county reports for tax year 2024. Exemption amounts are from the Illinois Department of Revenue. For ZIP-level data, start from our Illinois page.