How much do Illinois homebuyers need to save for a typical down payment?
Planning to buy a house in 2026? If you’re saving up for a 20% down payment on a typical Illinois home, it’ll cost you roughly $23,000 more compared to a decade ago, according to one report.
In a July 6 report, “Where the Down Payment Burden Has Grown Most,” financial publication SmartAsset found Illinois had the 38th-greatest increase in the change in time needed to save for a down payment from 2016 to 2026 at median household income, assuming a 10% savings rate.
A homebuyer must save $58,042 for a 20% down payment on a typical Illinois home in 2026, according to SmartAsset’s report. In 2016, a down payment would run you $34,624.20.
That equates to 18.6 years of saving 10% of the annual income for someone making the state’s $15 minimum wage, an 11-month increase compared to 2016. And saving 10% of a minimum wage income may not be possible for many, as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage calculator finds an Illinois resident needs to make $24.42 per hour to afford basic necessities.
The cost of rent is also generally inaccessible to a single earner making minimum wage in Illinois. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports an Illinois resident would need to work 69 hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home.
For those looking to buy a home in Illinois at the state’s median annual household income of $87,776, it would take 6.6 years of saving 10% of your income to afford a 20% down payment.
SmartAsset reported the typical home value in Illinois was $173,121 in April 2016, compared to $290,210 in April 2026.
“In terms of home price growth, Illinois has had one of the highest increases over the last year,” Frank Manzo IV, an economist with the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, told the News-Democrat in a recent interview.
Home prices saw a 5.6% increase in Illinois from May 2025 to May 2026, according to real estate company Redfin, and Madison County’s increase was even steeper, at 5.9% per Zillow.
In addition to necessitating a larger total down payment, increasing home prices have also contributed to a spike in home insurance costs in Illinois.
Where has the down payment ‘burden’ increased the most?
Here’s how the top 10 states nationwide compared on the change in time needed to save for a home down payment from 2016 to 2026, according to SmartAsset:
- Idaho: 11.2 years to save for a 20% down payment on a typical home, saving 10% of the state’s median household income, representing an increase of 40 months compared to 2016.
- Rhode Island: 11.5 years, with a 39-month increase
- New Hampshire: 9.7 years, with a 36-month increase
- Maine: 10.2 years, with a 34-month increase
- Utah: 10.6 years, with a 32-month increase
- Montana: 11.8 years, with a 32-month increase
- Washington: 11.5 years, with a 28-month increase
- New Jersey: 10.4 years, with a 27-month increase
- New York: 11.3 years, with a 27-month increase
- Massachusetts: 12 years, with a 27-month increase
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