The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Illinois For 2021


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

Chris Kolmar, About HomeSnacks
December 28, 2020
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Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2021.

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 Marseilles according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Illinois for 2021.

The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Illinois For 2021

  1. Marseilles
  2. Robbins
  3. Milan
  4. Staunton
  5. Fairfield
  6. Monee
  7. Colona
  8. Hoopeston
  9. Berkeley
  10. Lake Barrington

What's the best place to buy a home in Illinois for 2021? 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 2021

1. Marseilles

Marseilles, IL

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

5
/10

Population: 5,032
Median Home Price: $108,400
Population Change: -1.1%
Home Price Change: -0.2%
More on Marseilles: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

2. Robbins

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,037
Median Home Price: $76,400
Population Change: 0.7%
Home Price Change: 5.4%
More on Robbins: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Milan

Milan, IL

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

5
/10

Population: 5,056
Median Home Price: $108,300
Population Change: -0.6%
Home Price Change: 6.9%
More on Milan: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

4. Staunton

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,066
Median Home Price: $99,700
Population Change: 0.6%
Home Price Change: 0.8%
More on Staunton: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Fairfield

Fairfield, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,082
Median Home Price: $74,800
Population Change: 0.1%
Home Price Change: 12.0%
More on Fairfield: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

6. Monee

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,082
Median Home Price: $163,400
Population Change: -0.8%
Home Price Change: 5.7%
More on Monee: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Colona

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,096
Median Home Price: $123,700
Population Change: 2.9%
Home Price Change: 2.3%
More on Colona: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Hoopeston

Hoopeston, IL

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

3
/10

Population: 5,102
Median Home Price: $62,500
Population Change: -2.4%
Home Price Change: -8.6%
More on Hoopeston: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

9. Berkeley

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,116
Median Home Price: $178,700
Population Change: -1.1%
Home Price Change: -0.1%
More on Berkeley: Homes For Sale | Data

10. Lake Barrington

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,117
Median Home Price: $379,700
Population Change: 0.9%
Home Price Change: -0.3%
More on Lake Barrington: Homes For Sale | Data

How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Illinois for 2021?

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 2015-2019 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 336 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.

We then ranked each place from 1 to 336 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 Marseilles is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Prairie State.

Read on for more on these places.

There You Have It - The Best Places To Purchase A House In Illinois for 2021

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:

Detailed List Of The Best Places To Buy A Home In Illinois

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
Marseilles 1 $108,400 -1.1% -0.2%
Robbins 2 $76,400 0.7% 5.4%
Milan 3 $108,300 -0.6% 6.9%
Staunton 4 $99,700 0.6% 0.8%
Fairfield 5 $74,800 0.1% 12.0%
Monee 6 $163,400 -0.8% 5.7%
Colona 7 $123,700 2.9% 2.3%
Hoopeston 8 $62,500 -2.4% -8.6%
Berkeley 9 $178,700 -1.1% -0.1%
Lake Barrington 10 $379,700 0.9% -0.3%
Creve Coeur 11 $82,400 -5.1% 1.4%
Genoa 12 $154,100 7.0% 0.0%
Spring Valley 13 $113,200 -1.1% 6.3%
Volo 14 $207,200 10.1% 0.0%
Poplar Grove 15 $159,900 10.8% -3.5%
Coal City 16 $197,100 -2.5% 12.4%
Highwood 17 $354,800 -1.0% -3.7%
Pinckneyville 18 $80,300 -0.5% 2.2%
Pana 19 $75,400 -0.6% 0.5%
Northfield 20 $638,400 -0.0% 0.6%
Carlinville 21 $91,600 -1.2% 1.6%
Willow Springs 22 $323,600 -1.6% -0.2%
Spring Grove 23 $302,700 -3.1% -1.8%
Elburn 24 $278,000 -3.3% 4.3%
Lake Bluff 25 $642,700 0.4% 2.6%
Beardstown 26 $68,900 -3.7% 6.3%
Monticello 27 $163,000 -2.0% 3.2%
Eureka 28 $140,000 -6.3% 1.7%
Lakemoor 29 $182,000 -6.7% -1.6%
Du Quoin 30 $66,400 -1.0% -1.5%
Pontoon Beach 31 $95,200 1.2% 2.1%
Peoria Heights 32 $82,800 -0.8% -0.5%
Carterville 33 $151,200 0.3% -0.2%
Countryside 34 $228,100 -0.6% 5.3%
Mount Zion 35 $152,000 0.0% 7.0%
Hampshire 36 $217,000 2.7% 11.6%
Wilmington 37 $168,500 2.0% 3.3%
East Alton 38 $81,100 -0.6% 1.2%
Metropolis 39 $73,800 -0.9% 0.4%
Posen 40 $121,100 -1.0% 11.5%
Chillicothe 41 $121,900 1.4% 3.0%
Bartonville 42 $109,800 -1.1% -1.6%
Braidwood 43 $162,400 1.5% 2.5%
Johnsburg 44 $277,500 0.8% 6.6%
Hillsboro 45 $90,200 -6.4% 11.8%
Geneseo 46 $144,900 1.2% 0.3%
North Riverside 47 $249,400 -2.5% 3.4%
Greenville 48 $100,000 0.9% -5.9%
Stickney 49 $191,000 -0.8% 7.7%
Winthrop Harbor 50 $196,300 -0.7% 1.1%
Litchfield 51 $75,900 -2.1% -1.8%
Vandalia 52 $83,700 -0.1% 2.3%
University Park 53 $124,100 -2.4% 5.3%
Benton 54 $72,300 -0.1% -0.6%
Mount Carmel 55 $78,700 -0.3% 0.6%
Salem 56 $78,500 -1.0% 3.6%
Mendota 57 $108,600 0.3% -0.8%
Clinton 58 $82,100 -0.9% 1.5%
Orland Hills 59 $223,800 -0.6% -1.2%
Sandwich 60 $171,000 -4.2% 0.2%
Park City 61 $14,700 -0.8% -16.9%
Silvis 62 $117,600 -0.7% 3.9%
Lincolnshire 63 $508,700 1.4% -0.2%
Princeton 64 $120,800 -0.8% -1.5%
Robinson 65 $77,600 0.0% -1.5%
Inverness 66 $628,700 -1.5% 0.6%
Rockton 67 $172,100 -0.7% 2.4%
West Dundee 68 $264,800 1.4% -0.7%
West Frankfort 69 $62,700 -2.4% 1.0%
Broadview 70 $158,900 -0.9% 6.4%
Murphysboro 71 $70,500 -2.4% 2.5%
Round Lake Park 72 $121,900 -3.0% 5.2%
Gilberts 73 $261,300 1.0% 2.3%
South Beloit 74 $125,800 0.9% 0.2%
Maryville 75 $209,500 -0.0% 6.3%
Long Grove 76 $648,700 -0.2% -1.3%
Marengo 77 $154,200 -2.5% -1.0%
Island Lake 78 $171,100 -0.3% 1.1%
Oak Brook 79 $801,100 -0.6% 1.9%
Hillside 80 $171,900 -0.2% 6.9%
Pingree Grove 81 $269,100 10.5% 7.1%
Crete 82 $171,200 -0.8% 3.1%
Jerseyville 83 $114,000 0.4% -6.2%
Manhattan 84 $241,400 4.5% 7.2%
Calumet Park 85 $106,600 -2.8% -3.9%
Mascoutah 86 $173,200 3.0% 8.7%
Chester 87 $101,700 -0.8% 8.2%
Paris 88 $74,900 -0.6% 3.2%
Mahomet 89 $240,300 0.8% 4.6%
Hawthorn Woods 90 $566,100 4.4% 1.9%
Harwood Heights 91 $267,300 -0.8% 2.8%
Savoy 92 $233,000 -1.4% 3.6%
Manteno 93 $177,500 -1.3% -2.8%
Glenwood 94 $126,000 -1.2% -0.2%
Willowbrook 95 $254,700 1.1% 13.8%
Lake Villa 96 $259,900 -0.7% 3.8%
Clarendon Hills 97 $506,400 0.1% -9.8%
Olney 98 $86,700 -1.0% 3.7%
Riverside 99 $406,300 -0.6% -1.6%
Monmouth 100 $75,800 -4.6% 3.1%
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.

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