Illinois city named among the top 20 most affordable places to buy a home in US
While Illinois home values are up 4.4% over the last year statewide, the Land of Lincoln is home to several cities where homebuying is more affordable.
Financial publication WalletHub recently named nine Illinois locales among the “Most Affordable Cities to Buy a Home” in a May 20 report. The ranking compared 300 U.S. cities’ performance on 10 metrics, including housing affordability, maintenance affordability, average cost of homeowner’s insurance, cost of living, cost of housing per square foot, real estate tax rate, rent-to-price ratio, median home price appreciation, quarterly active listings per capita and housing vacancy rate.
WalletHub gave each city an overall score out of 100, and the housing affordability metric was given triple weight in the calculation. WalletHub considered median house price and median annual household income to evaluate affordability.
Data used to create the ranking are from April 22, and sources included the U.S. Census Bureau, The National Association of Realtors, Council for Community and Economic Research and Insurance Information Institute, according to WalletHub.
Illinois’ top performing city was Springfield, which landed in 20th place out of the 300 cities. Peoria, Rockford, Joliet and Aurora also cracked the top 100, while a few Chicagoland spots were in the 100s.
Here’s how the top 25 cities for affordable home-buying compared, according to WalletHub:
Flint, Mich.
Detroit, Mich.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Surprise, Ariz.
Akron, Ohio
Yuma, Ariz.
Memphis, Tenn.
Augusta, Ga.
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Indianapolis
North Las Vegas, Nev.
Cleveland, Ohio
Warren, Mich.
Toledo, Ohio
Montgomery, Ala.
Davenport, Iowa
Palm Bay, Fla.
Fayetteville, N.C.
High Point, N.C.
Springfield, Ill.
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Birmingham, Ala.
Little Rock, Ark.
Dayton, Ohio
What are Illinois’ most affordable cities to buy a home?
Springfield scored a 68.42 out of 100 to land its 20th-place spot. The capital city scored particularly well for housing affordability, receiving a fourth-place ranking for that metric.
“In past years, redevelopment and urban resurgence in some Midwest cities have made them vibrant places to live offering recreational opportunities — all at a vastly more affordable price than coastal cities,” University of Missouri School of Law professor Andrea Boyack told WalletHub.
Peoria landed in 32nd, with a score of 67.14. The central Illinois city beat out Springfield for housing affordability, with a third-place performance. Peoria has been named in several articles in recent years for its affordability and for being a good place to move.
Northern Illinois’ Rockford was in 57th place, with a score of 65.18. Although it performed well overall in WalletHub’s ranking, popular real estate website Zillow reports the city’s average home value is up 9% compared to last year. It remains significantly lower than the state’s average, however, at $165,821 compared to $280,645.
Joliet scored just below Rockford, with a 65.05 rating bringing it to 60th place overall. Real estate website Redfin considers Joliet’s housing market “somewhat competitive,” with a median sale price of $325,000 in April.
Aurora was ranked 88th with a score of 63.37, Waukegan came in 104th with a score of 62.14, Elgin got 115th place with its score of 61.23, Naperville was in 123rd place with a score of 60.75, and Chicago was given a 138th place position, with a score of 59.19.
WalletHub reported Naperville has particularly high home maintenance costs. The city has the fourth least-affordable maintenance services out of the 300 cities.
Despite some variation in affordability, Naperville and Peoria made a recent list from online publication Livability for being among the “Top 100 Best Places to Live in the US in 2025.” Peoria performed particularly well in that ranking for housing and cost of living, while Naperville stood out for health, education and safety.
Three Missouri cities were included in WalletHub’s list of the most affordable cities to buy a home, but none of them cracked the top 100. St. Louis was in 102nd place with a score of 62.45, Kansas City was in 127th with a 60.66 and Springfield, Mo., was in 134th place, with a score of 59.49.
Do you have a question about real estate or the economy in Illinois for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Metro-east Matters form below.
