The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Illinois For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which places in Illinois have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.

Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2022.

There's a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in Illinois:

Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren't here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you'll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in Illinois, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Prairie State.

To do that we are going to look at places in Illinois that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the "deals". The best deal in Illinois at the moment? That would be Milan according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Illinois for 2022.

The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Illinois For 2022

  1. Milan
  2. Olympia Fields
  3. Robbins
  4. Creve Coeur
  5. Berkeley
  6. Monee
  7. Genoa
  8. Lake Barrington
  9. Spring Valley
  10. Hoopeston

What's the best place to buy a home in Illinois for 2022? According to our analysis, would the the ideal place to buy a home looking into the future.

The methodology that wen't into this can be a bit complicated, so we'll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below. If you're not worried about finding a deal on good places to live, check out the most expensive places to live in Illinois and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in Illinois.

For more Illinois reading, check out:

The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Illinois For 2022

1. Milan

Milan, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Kepper66 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,001
Median Home Price: $114,600
Population Change: -1.1%
Home Price Change: 5.8%
More on Milan: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

2. Olympia Fields

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,028
Median Home Price: $227,500
Population Change: 4.3%
Home Price Change: 0.4%
More on Olympia Fields: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Robbins

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 5,068
Median Home Price: $83,200
Population Change: 0.6%
Home Price Change: 8.9%
More on Robbins: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Creve Coeur

Creve Coeur, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Lpangelrob | CC BY-SA 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,074
Median Home Price: $76,800
Population Change: -2.7%
Home Price Change: -6.8%
More on Creve Coeur: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

5. Berkeley

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,079
Median Home Price: $175,900
Population Change: -0.7%
Home Price Change: -1.6%
More on Berkeley: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Monee

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,080
Median Home Price: $181,200
Population Change: -0.0%
Home Price Change: 10.9%
More on Monee: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Genoa

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,092
Median Home Price: $158,100
Population Change: -2.5%
Home Price Change: 2.6%
More on Genoa: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Lake Barrington

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,094
Median Home Price: $367,100
Population Change: -0.4%
Home Price Change: -3.3%
More on Lake Barrington: Homes For Sale | Data

9. Spring Valley

Spring Valley, IL

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,172
Median Home Price: $102,100
Population Change: -1.0%
Home Price Change: -9.8%
More on Spring Valley: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

10. Hoopeston

Hoopeston, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Mitchazenia | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 5,178
Median Home Price: $57,600
Population Change: 1.5%
Home Price Change: -7.8%
More on Hoopeston: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Illinois for 2022?

We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we've put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good place to buy a home.

So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we'd approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Illinois. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Illinois with undervalued homes relative to pent up demand.

Best Places To Retire In Illinois

To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2016-2020 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). Specifically, we used the following criteria:

  • Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
  • Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
  • Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It's still kinda cheap)

We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still "cheap" for Illinois with the following caveats:

So of the 0 cities and towns in Illinois, only 332 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.

We then ranked each place from 1 to 332 for the criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a "best place to buy" index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.

Turns out that Milan is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Prairie State.

Read on for more on these places.

Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Illinois for 2022

There's our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Illinois. And, to be clear, we aren't necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.

In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.

So if we'd could rent or buy in these cities, we'd definitely buy.

For more Illinois reading, check out:

Home Prices By City In Illinois

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
Milan 1 $114,600 -1.1% 5.8%
Olympia Fields 2 $227,500 4.3% 0.4%
Robbins 3 $83,200 0.6% 8.9%
Creve Coeur 4 $76,800 -2.7% -6.8%
Berkeley 5 $175,900 -0.7% -1.6%
Monee 6 $181,200 -0.0% 10.9%
Genoa 7 $158,100 -2.5% 2.6%
Lake Barrington 8 $367,100 -0.4% -3.3%
Spring Valley 9 $102,100 -1.0% -9.8%
Hoopeston 10 $57,600 1.5% -7.8%
Highwood 11 $383,300 -0.3% 8.0%
Colona 12 $129,100 4.1% 4.4%
Pana 13 $74,800 -2.0% -0.8%
Pinckneyville 14 $72,800 -0.8% -9.3%
Eureka 15 $133,800 -4.3% -4.4%
Volo 16 $212,200 5.1% 2.4%
Beardstown 17 $71,000 -3.1% 3.0%
Lake Bluff 18 $647,100 -1.6% 0.7%
Elburn 19 $276,600 -1.2% -0.5%
Willow Springs 20 $316,600 0.1% -2.2%
Carlinville 21 $96,500 1.9% 5.3%
Spring Grove 22 $308,800 1.0% 2.0%
Northfield 23 $699,600 2.6% 9.6%
Mount Zion 24 $142,300 -4.5% -6.4%
Du Quoin 25 $72,600 -0.7% 9.3%
Posen 26 $132,600 -6.1% 9.5%
Monticello 27 $167,300 2.1% 2.6%
Lakemoor 28 $202,200 1.1% 11.1%
Pontoon Beach 29 $109,000 0.5% 14.5%
Peoria Heights 30 $86,000 -0.6% 3.9%
Carterville 31 $154,800 -0.1% 2.4%
Wilmington 32 $164,300 -2.4% -2.5%
Hampshire 33 $255,800 -1.6% 17.9%
Countryside 34 $242,700 -0.5% 6.4%
East Alton 35 $79,700 -0.7% -1.7%
Metropolis 36 $81,700 -1.2% 10.7%
Bartonville 37 $110,800 -1.2% 0.9%
Hillsboro 38 $89,400 -3.5% -0.9%
Chillicothe 39 $116,900 1.7% -4.1%
Braidwood 40 $174,700 -0.6% 7.6%
Johnsburg 41 $281,100 -0.5% 1.3%
North Riverside 42 $250,400 -2.8% 0.4%
Geneseo 43 $156,400 -0.5% 7.9%
Stickney 44 $184,500 -1.1% -3.4%
Vandalia 45 $81,900 -4.3% -2.2%
Litchfield 46 $87,400 -3.6% 15.2%
Winthrop Harbor 47 $192,600 -0.7% -1.9%
Greenville 48 $97,700 0.9% -2.3%
Mount Carmel 49 $76,200 -1.4% -3.2%
Mendota 50 $107,200 -1.8% -1.3%
Benton 51 $75,700 0.1% 4.7%
Clinton 52 $81,600 -1.1% -0.6%
Salem 53 $78,900 -0.6% 0.5%
Orland Hills 54 $226,400 -0.9% 1.2%
University Park 55 $124,400 4.0% 0.2%
Sandwich 56 $181,200 0.7% 6.0%
Robinson 57 $80,800 -2.4% 4.1%
Silvis 58 $133,600 0.1% 13.6%
Princeton 59 $115,000 -0.2% -4.8%
West Frankfort 60 $64,100 -1.5% 2.2%
Park City 61 $23,200 3.2% 57.8%
Broadview 62 $172,000 -1.0% 8.2%
Lincolnshire 63 $556,900 1.6% 9.5%
Rockton 64 $176,500 0.9% 2.6%
Murphysboro 65 $69,900 -0.4% -0.9%
South Beloit 66 $119,600 -2.2% -4.9%
Round Lake Park 67 $120,100 -0.9% -1.5%
Jerseyville 68 $109,300 -3.7% -4.1%
Marengo 69 $157,000 -1.2% 1.8%
Long Grove 70 $652,600 -0.7% 0.6%
West Dundee 71 $285,900 3.6% 8.0%
Hillside 72 $190,000 -1.8% 10.5%
Gilberts 73 $262,800 1.5% 0.6%
Inverness 74 $648,200 4.3% 3.1%
Maryville 75 $207,600 0.1% -0.9%
Crete 76 $166,500 -0.7% -2.7%
Oak Brook 77 $770,700 0.1% -3.8%
Island Lake 78 $184,900 1.0% 8.1%
Manhattan 79 $248,300 0.7% 2.9%
Chester 80 $96,800 -0.9% -4.8%
Hawthorn Woods 81 $581,600 -1.1% 2.7%
Calumet Park 82 $114,100 2.1% 7.0%
Harwood Heights 83 $279,700 -1.1% 4.6%
Mascoutah 84 $174,500 2.5% 0.8%
Manteno 85 $195,600 0.1% 10.2%
Harrisburg 86 $72,900 -4.6% 4.4%
Lake Villa 87 $271,500 -1.2% 4.5%
Willowbrook 88 $278,200 -0.7% 9.2%
Paris 89 $74,800 2.9% -0.1%
Riverside 90 $403,900 -0.1% -0.6%
Pingree Grove 91 $266,400 8.2% -1.0%
Savoy 92 $227,300 3.1% -2.4%
Clarendon Hills 93 $456,300 1.4% -9.9%
Glencoe 94 $1,044,700 -0.6% 9.5%
Monmouth 95 $79,200 0.8% 4.5%
Glenwood 96 $129,600 2.2% 2.9%
Olney 97 $82,100 1.7% -5.3%
Mahomet 98 $243,000 5.9% 1.1%
Rock Falls 99 $71,600 -0.4% -8.2%
Rochelle 100 $115,900 -0.8% 1.2%
Download The Entire Illinois Ranking Data

How Is The Area In ?

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Buy A House