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If you guessed that many of Illinois' most expensive places are located around Chicago, you guessed right. The northeast corner of Illinois has a long history of exorbitant home prices, high property taxes, and people who can afford to pay these premium price tags.
Yes, Illinoisans can thank famous mobsters like Al Capone, professional athletes like Michael Jordan, and the CEOs of the state's 36 Fortune 500 companies for driving up the cost in the state's most expensive places. More importantly, you can thank HomeSnacks for creating a list of the most expensive places in Illinois for 2023 so that anyone thinking about moving to The Land of Lincoln will know how to navigate the state's pricey pockets.
Before you head down to our list of Illinois' top ten most expensive places, it's important to note how we calculated our list. First, we looked at the American Community Survey for places with at least 5,000 residents. We then looked at the home to income ratio and the rent to income ratio for each place. This left us with 328 Illinois places that will require you to make at least $65,781/year to offset your cost of living.
So, if you want to know what it's going to take to live in one of the most expensive places in one of the most expensive states in America, take a look below.
Here are the 10 most expensive places to live in Illinois for 2023:
What's the most expensive place to live in Illinois? Well, HomeSnacks crunched the numbers and discovered that Lincolnwood is the most expensive place to live in Illinois.
So hopefully Monmouth (the cheapest place to live in Illinois) can show these guys how to live on a budget in the coming years. Read on for how these places had costs rise faster than inflation.
And if you already knew these places were expensive, check out some more reading about Illinois and the most expensive cities in the country:
The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Illinois For 2023
1. Lincolnwood
/10
Population: 13,358
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.2x (17th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 39.9x (8th most expensive)
More on Lincolnwood: Real Estate | Data
The median income in Lincolnwood comes in at $95,650 and the median home value is $398,500 for 2023.
2. Lincolnshire
/10
Population: 7,905
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.9x (29th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 54.0x (44th most expensive)
More on Lincolnshire: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Lincolnshire comes in at $144,676 and the median home value is $569,600 for 2023.
3. Evanston
/10
Population: 78,454
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 4)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.7x (4th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 57.2x (73rd most expensive)
More on Evanston: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Evanston comes in at $87,345 and the median home value is $410,600 for 2023.
4. Morton Grove
/10
Population: 25,004
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.6x (43rd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 43.6x (16th most expensive)
More on Morton Grove: Real Estate | Data
The median income in Morton Grove comes in at $91,389 and the median home value is $332,100 for 2023.
5. Highwood
/10
Population: 5,204
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.2x (19th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 57.6x (79th most expensive)
More on Highwood: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Highwood comes in at $88,913 and the median home value is $369,700 for 2023.
6. Chicago
/10
Population: 2,742,119
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 6)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.2x (14th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 54.4x (46th most expensive)
More on Chicago: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Chicago comes in at $65,781 and the median home value is $277,600 for 2023.
7. Burr Ridge
/10
Population: 11,167
Rank Last Year: 44 (Up 36)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.5x (8th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 63.6x (137th most expensive)
More on Burr Ridge: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Burr Ridge comes in at $148,214 and the median home value is $672,500 for 2023.
8. Norridge
/10
Population: 15,294
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.9x (3most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 56.3x (66th most expensive)
More on Norridge: Real Estate | Data
The median income in Norridge comes in at $80,911 and the median home value is $313,900 for 2023.
9. Long Grove
/10
Population: 8,258
Rank Last Year: 18 (Up 8)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.2x (70th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 59.2x (88th most expensive)
More on Long Grove: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Long Grove comes in at $207,275 and the median home value is $664,000 for 2023.
10. Northfield
/10
Population: 5,853
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.6x (6th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 65.4x (157th most expensive)
More on Northfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Northfield comes in at $160,331 and the median home value is $743,600 for 2023.
Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Prairie State For 2023
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:
- How much do money do I make?
- How much do I have spend to live there?
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2017-2021 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Illinois to figure out which is the most expensive.
What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 328 places in Illinois that have more than 5,000 people.
The place with the highest cost of living in Illinois according to the data is Lincolnwood. You can download the data here.
Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Illinois For 2023
Well there you have it, the places in Illinois that have the highest cost of living, with Lincolnwood ranking as the most expensive city in the Prairie State.
Here's a look at the most affordable cities in Illinois according to the data:
- Monmouth
- Olney
- Hillsboro
For more Illinois reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Illinois
- Cheapest Places To Live In Illinois
- Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Illinois
- Safest Places In Illinois
- Worst Places To Live In Illinois
Detailed List Of The Most Expensive Cities In Illinois
| Rank | City | ExpensiveScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincolnwood | 19.33 |
| 2 | Lincolnshire | 29.67 |
| 3 | Evanston | 36.0 |
| 4 | Morton Grove | 37.0 |
| 5 | Highwood | 46.0 |
| 6 | Chicago | 47.0 |
| 7 | Burr Ridge | 51.33 |
| 8 | Norridge | 53.0 |
| 9 | Long Grove | 56.0 |
| 10 | Northfield | 56.67 |
| 11 | Niles | 57.67 |
| 12 | Elmwood Park | 61.33 |
| 13 | North Riverside | 61.67 |
| 14 | Lake Bluff | 62.33 |
| 15 | Glenview | 62.67 |
| 16 | Schiller Park | 63.0 |
| 17 | Skokie | 66.0 |
| 18 | Lake Barrington | 66.33 |
| 19 | Melrose Park | 67.33 |
| 20 | Westmont | 68.33 |
| 21 | Huntley | 69.33 |
| 22 | Prospect Heights | 70.67 |
| 23 | Schaumburg | 71.33 |
| 24 | Willowbrook | 72.67 |
| 25 | Wood Dale | 76.67 |
| 26 | Vernon Hills | 77.0 |
| 27 | Bloomingdale | 77.0 |
| 28 | Summit | 80.83 |
| 29 | Urbana | 85.67 |
| 30 | Lombard | 85.67 |
| 31 | Justice | 86.33 |
| 32 | Dekalb | 86.67 |
| 33 | Berwyn | 87.33 |
| 34 | Carbondale | 88.0 |
| 35 | Hillside | 88.67 |
| 36 | Forest Park | 88.67 |
| 37 | Gilberts | 88.83 |
| 38 | Bensenville | 89.0 |
| 39 | Worth | 89.0 |
| 40 | River Grove | 90.0 |
| 41 | Elk Grove Village | 90.0 |
| 42 | Harwood Heights | 91.33 |
| 43 | Northbrook | 92.0 |
| 44 | Rolling Meadows | 92.0 |
| 45 | Palatine | 92.33 |
| 46 | Pingree Grove | 92.67 |
| 47 | Darien | 93.0 |
| 48 | Downers Grove | 94.67 |
| 49 | Wheaton | 96.33 |
| 50 | Woodridge | 96.67 |
| 51 | Oak Park | 98.0 |
| 52 | Hampshire | 98.67 |
| 53 | Orland Park | 100.0 |
| 54 | Oak Brook | 101.33 |
| 55 | Countryside | 102.67 |
| 56 | Arlington Heights | 103.33 |
| 57 | Bridgeview | 103.67 |
| 58 | Hoffman Estates | 104.33 |
| 59 | Addison | 104.33 |
| 60 | Lisle | 105.0 |
| 61 | Wheeling | 106.0 |
| 62 | Des Plaines | 107.33 |
| 63 | Cicero | 107.67 |
| 64 | Westchester | 108.0 |
| 65 | Champaign | 108.33 |
| 66 | Elburn | 108.33 |
| 67 | Itasca | 109.0 |
| 68 | River Forest | 109.33 |
| 69 | Barrington | 109.33 |
| 70 | Spring Grove | 109.67 |
| 71 | Mount Prospect | 109.67 |
| 72 | Oak Lawn | 110.0 |
| 73 | Glencoe | 110.67 |
| 74 | Crest Hill | 111.0 |
| 75 | Broadview | 111.0 |
| 76 | Stickney | 112.5 |
| 77 | Lake Forest | 112.67 |
| 78 | Park Ridge | 112.67 |
| 79 | Elmhurst | 112.67 |
| 80 | Winnetka | 113.33 |
| 81 | Clarendon Hills | 113.67 |
| 82 | La Grange | 114.33 |
| 83 | Buffalo Grove | 115.0 |
| 84 | Hickory Hills | 115.83 |
| 85 | Lake Zurich | 116.0 |
| 86 | La Grange Park | 116.33 |
| 87 | Mchenry | 117.0 |
| 88 | Winfield | 117.67 |
| 89 | Wilmette | 118.33 |
| 90 | Warrenville | 118.33 |
| 91 | Chicago Ridge | 118.67 |
| 92 | St. Charles | 119.0 |
| 93 | Hanover Park | 119.33 |
| 94 | Hinsdale | 119.33 |
| 95 | Glendale Heights | 119.67 |
| 96 | Highland Park | 120.33 |
| 97 | Streamwood | 121.17 |
| 98 | North Aurora | 123.0 |
| 99 | Naperville | 125.0 |
| 100 | Deerfield | 125.33 |
