Editor’s Note: This is not investment advice, and we are not financial advisers.
Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Illinois with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Illinois that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Illinois at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Coal City.
3.3% population growth · 2.0% home price growth
Coal City is a village in Grundy and Will Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is considered a fringe town of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 5,587 at the 2010 census. It is served by Interstate 55. The Santa Fe Railway formerly served Coal City at Coal City Station.
Data | Movers
0.3% population growth · 0.1% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.1% population growth · -2.9% home price growth
Milan is a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,099 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.4% population growth · 0.3% home price growth
Berkeley is a village located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Incorporated in 1924, the population at the 2010 census was 5,209.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.1% population growth · -0.1% home price growth
Monee is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,148 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-3.4% population growth · 2.2% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.8% population growth · 1.1% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.6% population growth · -2.6% home price growth
Spring Valley is a city situated on the Illinois River in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,398 at the 2000 census, and 5,558 in 2010. It is part of the Ottawa-Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.1% population growth · 9.6% home price growth
Hoopeston is a city in Grant Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,351.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
1.1% population growth · -0.0% home price growth
Highwood is a city in Moraine Township, Lake County, Illinois, United States located between Chicago and Kenosha. The city is also located just south of the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Illinois’s statewide median.
Illinois statewide median: $285,736
On the map
Where Illinois’s best buys are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Illinois for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for over a decade. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent 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 using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. 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 these caveats: home prices had to be within 20% of the state average, home prices increased in the last year, and the city had above 5,000 people.
So of the 1364 cities and towns in Illinois, only 330 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 330 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Coal City is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Prairie State. The median Illinois home is 55 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Best Places To Buy A Home In Illinois
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coal City | 5,317 | $264,378 | 3.3% | 2.0% |
| 2 | South Barrington | 5,021 | $1,108,365 | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 3 | Milan | 5,034 | $184,801 | -0.1% | -2.9% |
| 4 | Berkeley | 5,199 | $292,137 | -0.4% | 0.3% |
| 5 | Monee | 5,108 | $337,963 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
| 6 | Genoa | 5,492 | $310,628 | -3.4% | 2.2% |
| 7 | Lake Barrington | 5,442 | $534,063 | 0.8% | 1.1% |
| 8 | Spring Valley | 5,476 | $138,946 | -0.6% | -2.6% |
| 9 | Hoopeston | 5,034 | $81,733 | -0.1% | 9.6% |
| 10 | Highwood | 5,301 | $467,497 | 1.1% | -0.0% |
| 11 | Colona | 5,139 | $177,130 | -1.0% | -1.5% |
| 12 | Pana | 5,217 | $104,180 | -1.1% | 1.4% |
| 13 | Pinckneyville | 5,018 | $124,847 | -0.7% | 0.3% |
| 14 | Eureka | 5,007 | $205,468 | -1.7% | -1.8% |
| 15 | Volo | 6,706 | $366,347 | 4.8% | -0.3% |
| 16 | Beardstown | 6,169 | $87,129 | 2.0% | 0.9% |
| 17 | Lake Bluff | 6,041 | $633,530 | 3.5% | 2.9% |
| 18 | Elburn | 6,354 | $448,721 | 5.0% | 0.8% |
| 19 | Willow Springs | 5,868 | $386,669 | -0.1% | 3.1% |
| 20 | Carlinville | 5,480 | $140,570 | -1.7% | -0.7% |
| 21 | Spring Grove | 5,917 | $406,655 | 0.9% | 0.0% |
| 22 | Northfield | 5,487 | $841,446 | -3.4% | 3.9% |
| 23 | Mount Zion | 5,660 | $193,289 | -6.8% | -0.1% |
| 24 | Du Quoin | 5,726 | $95,488 | -0.9% | -1.3% |
| 25 | Posen | 5,292 | $188,148 | -0.7% | -1.0% |
| 26 | Monticello | 6,304 | $267,358 | -0.4% | -0.6% |
| 27 | Lakemoor | 6,467 | $283,780 | 10.0% | 0.4% |
| 28 | Pontoon Beach | 6,025 | $187,320 | -1.7% | -0.3% |
| 29 | Peoria Heights | 5,825 | $115,399 | -0.2% | -0.9% |
| 30 | Carterville | 5,818 | $178,566 | -0.1% | -2.3% |
| 31 | Wilmington | 5,494 | $263,750 | -0.2% | 0.5% |
| 32 | Hampshire | 8,524 | $407,967 | 2.1% | 2.5% |
| 33 | Countryside | 6,267 | $374,268 | -0.4% | 2.8% |
| 34 | East Alton | 5,689 | $93,631 | -0.7% | -5.0% |
| 35 | Metropolis | 5,864 | $117,765 | -0.6% | 4.8% |
| 36 | Bartonville | 5,841 | $130,912 | -0.2% | -2.5% |
| 37 | Hillsboro | 5,803 | $139,939 | 1.9% | 2.4% |
| 38 | Chillicothe | 5,900 | $177,740 | -4.6% | -1.1% |
| 39 | Braidwood | 6,062 | $273,094 | -1.8% | -0.9% |
| 40 | Johnsburg | 6,386 | $393,344 | 0.2% | 0.6% |
| 41 | North Riverside | 7,249 | $340,577 | -3.3% | 0.3% |
| 42 | Geneseo | 6,673 | $238,661 | 1.5% | 0.6% |
| 43 | Stickney | 6,952 | $286,404 | -0.1% | -0.6% |
| 44 | Vandalia | 5,796 | $125,377 | -4.1% | 0.5% |
| 45 | Litchfield | 6,834 | $121,157 | 0.3% | -0.6% |
| 46 | Winthrop Harbor | 6,559 | $292,813 | -1.6% | -1.9% |
| 47 | Greenville | 7,235 | $171,260 | 1.1% | 3.4% |
| 48 | Mount Carmel | 6,854 | $106,343 | -0.6% | -3.9% |
| 49 | Mendota | 6,994 | $173,549 | 1.1% | -1.0% |
| 50 | Benton | 6,863 | $104,191 | -3.0% | 1.4% |
| 51 | Clinton | 6,985 | $143,892 | -0.4% | 0.1% |
| 52 | Salem | 7,236 | $141,417 | -1.4% | 1.7% |
| 53 | Orland Hills | 6,719 | $327,784 | -0.6% | 0.5% |
| 54 | University Park | 7,306 | $184,105 | 2.8% | -2.6% |
| 55 | Sandwich | 7,219 | $319,505 | 1.4% | 0.5% |
| 56 | Robinson | 7,084 | $101,121 | 1.1% | 2.0% |
| 57 | Silvis | 7,955 | $153,476 | 0.2% | -2.6% |
| 58 | Princeton | 7,975 | $167,664 | 1.9% | 0.1% |
| 59 | West Frankfort | 7,118 | $87,998 | -0.5% | -1.7% |
| 60 | Park City | 7,827 | $272,660 | 2.6% | -0.2% |
| 61 | Broadview | 7,896 | $265,075 | -0.0% | -0.8% |
| 62 | Lincolnshire | 7,980 | $714,055 | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| 63 | Rockton | 7,974 | $288,100 | -3.2% | 2.1% |
| 64 | Murphysboro | 6,735 | $113,682 | -1.0% | 7.1% |
| 65 | South Beloit | 7,946 | $233,139 | 0.2% | 2.1% |
| 66 | Round Lake Park | 7,919 | $220,881 | 1.1% | 2.1% |
| 67 | Jerseyville | 7,445 | $142,963 | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| 68 | Marengo | 7,040 | $349,012 | -1.2% | -0.3% |
| 69 | Long Grove | 8,305 | $924,481 | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| 70 | West Dundee | 7,906 | $411,113 | 0.5% | 2.4% |
| 71 | Hillside | 8,084 | $278,961 | -0.6% | 1.2% |
| 72 | Gilberts | 8,606 | $409,641 | 2.6% | 3.7% |
| 73 | Inverness | 7,275 | $787,210 | -3.5% | 2.3% |
| 74 | Maryville | 8,316 | $325,041 | 0.4% | -0.2% |
| 75 | Crete | 8,386 | $287,367 | 0.0% | -3.9% |
| 76 | Oak Brook | 8,056 | $966,776 | 0.3% | 5.3% |
| 77 | Island Lake | 8,014 | $295,209 | -0.1% | 1.3% |
| 78 | Manhattan | 11,026 | $385,490 | 6.9% | 0.5% |
| 79 | Chester | 6,797 | $114,646 | -0.5% | 4.2% |
| 80 | Hawthorn Woods | 9,143 | $727,356 | -0.0% | 1.0% |
| 81 | Calumet Park | 6,855 | $159,230 | 0.3% | -0.2% |
| 82 | Harwood Heights | 8,821 | $377,397 | -0.3% | 1.9% |
| 83 | Mascoutah | 8,816 | $264,429 | 0.8% | 2.0% |
| 84 | Manteno | 9,030 | $307,923 | 1.0% | -0.9% |
| 85 | Harrisburg | 8,372 | $87,980 | -2.7% | -0.5% |
| 86 | Lake Villa | 8,683 | $370,654 | -0.3% | 1.6% |
| 87 | Willowbrook | 9,131 | $322,190 | -0.1% | 3.6% |
| 88 | Paris | 8,276 | $99,912 | 1.5% | -0.6% |
| 89 | Riverside | 9,039 | $547,998 | -0.4% | 2.5% |
| 90 | Pingree Grove | 10,914 | $369,702 | 3.2% | 0.5% |
| 91 | Savoy | 8,968 | $345,247 | 1.8% | -0.3% |
| 92 | Clarendon Hills | 8,659 | $666,351 | 0.2% | 4.5% |
| 93 | Glencoe | 8,701 | $1,577,965 | -0.2% | 4.8% |
| 94 | Monmouth | 8,581 | $105,665 | -2.4% | 1.0% |
| 95 | Glenwood | 8,603 | $203,369 | -0.2% | -2.4% |
| 96 | Olney | 8,577 | $132,106 | -3.2% | 4.7% |
| 97 | Mahomet | 10,049 | $339,545 | 3.0% | 1.1% |
| 98 | Rock Falls | 8,587 | $114,964 | -1.1% | -1.1% |
| 99 | Rochelle | 9,529 | $187,170 | 0.5% | -0.2% |
| 100 | LaSalle | 9,498 | $123,171 | 0.3% | -0.6% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 330 Illinois cities cleared the filters.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Illinois for 2026
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 1364 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Illinois are Coal City, South Barrington, Milan, Berkeley, Monee, Genoa, Lake Barrington, Spring Valley, Hoopeston, and Highwood.
So if we could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy. Not sold on Illinois? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Places To Buy A House In Illinois FAQs
What is the best city in Illinois to buy a house?
Coal City is the best place to buy a house in Illinois for 2026. Its population is growing, home values are rising, and the median home still costs $264,378. South Barrington and Milan are next on the list.
What are the best cities to buy a home in Illinois?
The best cities to buy a house in Illinois are Coal City, South Barrington, Milan, Berkeley, Monee, Genoa, Lake Barrington, Spring Valley, Hoopeston, and Highwood. Only 330 of the 1364 places in Illinois cleared our filters on growth and home prices.
How much does a house cost in Coal City?
The median home value in Coal City is $264,378, versus $285,736 across Illinois. Across the full top ten, the median home runs $301,382.
How do you pick the best places to buy a home in Illinois?
We look for Illinois places where the population is growing, home prices are climbing, and homes are still cheap relative to the state average, using Census American Community Survey data. Cities that hit all three get the highest Buy Index scores.
Is this a guarantee home values will go up?
No. This is not investment advice — just where the data points to potential value. The Buy Index says these markets look healthier than most of Illinois, not that any single house is a good deal.
