Chicago City Wire

Property owners in River West paid nearly 1.2 percent of the value of their homes in taxes last year. That’s more than 1 times the national average, according to an LGIS analysis of real estate sales data in Chicago’s West Side from Jan 1. to June 30.

Local Government Information Service (LGIS) publishes Chicago City Wire.

River West, population 86,429, recorded a median sale price of $449,000 based on data from the 86 properties sold during the first half of 2018. In 2017, homeowners paid a median property tax bill of $5,366, according to county tax data from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

That’s 1.2 percent of the community’s median home value. In the U.S., the average effective property tax rate is 1.19 percent.

Put another way: a $449,000 home in Indiana, where the effective rate is 0.89 percent, would have a property tax bill of about $3,996, or nearly $1,370 less per year.

The analysis, including 22 Chicago West Side communities, shows homeowners in West Garfield Park, Lawndale, Tri-Taylor, East Garfield Park, and Austin pay the highest property taxes in the region, each clocking in with effective rates of 1.99 to 4.22 percent.

Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property taxes in the country with an effective median rate of 2.32 percent, just behind those in New Jersey (2.28 percent).

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Top Property Rates in Chicago’s West Side

The following table ranks Chicago’s West Side communities by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.

Neighborhood	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Median tax	Effective Tax Rate
West Garfield Park	91	$78,000	$3,294	4.22%
Lawndale	250	$125,000	$3,221	2.58%
Tri-Taylor	23	$265,000	$6,243	2.36%
East Garfield Park	132	$140,000	$3,245	2.32%
Austin	419	$135,000	$2,681	1.99%
Little Village	152	$141,000	$2,774	1.97%
Wicker Park	134	$527,750	$10,101	1.91%
Hermosa	130	$252,500	$4,223	1.67%
Bucktown	299	$555,000	$9,088	1.64%
Galewood	78	$265,000	$4,243	1.60%
Ukrainian Village	205	$570,000	$9,057	1.59%
University Village / Little Italy	105	$320,000	$5,050	1.58%
Noble Square	100	$500,000	$7,706	1.54%
Heart of Chicago	33	$300,000	$4,428	1.48%
West Town	242	$489,500	$6,817	1.39%
Pilsen	73	$350,000	$4,594	1.31%
Logan Square	542	$423,750	$5,438	1.28%
West Loop	101	$361,000	$4,539	1.26%
Near West Side	224	$380,000	$4,712	1.24%
River West	86	$449,000	$5,366	1.20%
Humboldt Park	331	$322,500	$3,543	1.10%
Greektown	16	$427,500	$607	0.14%

Source: BlockShopper.com; Cook County Assessor’s Office

Median Sales Prices in Chicago’s West Side

The following table ranks Chicago’s West Side cities by the year-over-year change in median sale price, which is calculated using prices of properties sold during the first six months of 2018.

Neighborhood	Jan - June 2017 Sales	Jan - June 2017 Median Price	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Change
West Garfield Park	69	$47,000	91	$78,000	65.96%
East Garfield Park	107	$91,500	132	$140,000	53.01%
Lawndale	216	$90,000	250	$125,000	38.89%
Heart of Chicago	49	$235,000	33	$300,000	27.66%
Austin	359	$109,000	419	$135,000	23.85%
Humboldt Park	325	$267,500	331	$322,500	20.56%
Galewood	82	$220,000	78	$265,000	20.45%
Greektown	26	$370,500	16	$427,500	15.38%
West Loop	107	$330,000	101	$361,000	9.39%
Bucktown	311	$510,000	299	$555,000	8.82%
Logan Square	631	$389,500	542	$423,750	8.79%
Tri-Taylor	16	$243,750	23	$265,000	8.72%
Little Village	141	$130,000	152	$141,000	8.46%
Ukrainian Village	195	$526,000	205	$570,000	8.37%
West Town	277	$465,000	242	$489,500	5.27%
Hermosa	117	$245,000	130	$252,500	3.06%
Pilsen	77	$342,500	73	$350,000	2.19%
River West	89	$442,000	86	$449,000	1.58%
Near West Side	239	$376,000	224	$380,000	1.06%
Noble Square	113	$510,000	100	$500,000	-1.96%
University Village / Little Italy	107	$327,500	105	$320,000	-2.29%
Wicker Park	166	$575,000	134	$527,750	-8.22%

Sources: Blockshopper.com; Cook County Recorder of Deeds