Housing Affordability Eclipses Crime as Chicago Residents’ No. 1 Concern

Housing affordability has emerged as Chicago residents' top concern this year, overtaking crime and gun violence, according to a new poll. 

In a stark shift for the Windy City, 41% of the 648 registered voters who participated in an Illinois Realtors® survey conducted by the analytics firm Statara in January identified the cumulative burden of property taxes and housing expenses, such as insurance and utilities, as their biggest source of worry.  

For comparison, 23% said crime and gun violence was the most pressing issue that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council should focus on.

It comes after violent crime in Chicago plummeted to more than a decade low last year as the city's arrest rate increased, according to data from the Chicago Police Department. 

"When housing becomes a source of constant financial stress, it naturally begins to eclipse other concerns like crime," says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones. "For many Chicago households, the most immediate threat to their stability is whether they can afford to keep their keys." 

For context, when Illinois Realtors polled voters in 2022, crime and gun violence was the No. 1 concern, at 49%, followed by education (11%), property taxes (7%), and housing costs (6%), reported Crain's Chicago Business.  

Realtor.com® reached out to Illinois Realtors for comment.

Additionally, nearly 5 out of 6 survey participants said the cost of purchasing a house in Chicago is too high. 

Housing data analysis conducted by Realtor.com shows that the median listing price in Chicago was $344,000 in January, up nearly $30,000 compared to four years earlier.  

"Historically, Chicago's greatest competitive advantage was its accessibility, but that affordability gap is thinning," says Jones. "With median prices up 9.2% since 2022 and price per square foot rising even faster, the math for the average Chicagoan is changing. We are seeing a market where residents are paying a premium for less home."

At the same time, Chicago was among only four of the nation's 50 largest metros that saw year-over-year housing inventory decreases.

In his State of the State address in February, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker acknowledged that rent in the state is too high and homeownership is "too far out of reach."

"The cause is clear, too. We are not building enough homes fast enough,” the Democrat said, citing a report issued by The Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois showing that the state will need to build 227,000 more homes by 2030 to keep up with demand. 

Last year, Illinois earned a C on the Realtor.com State-by-State Housing Report Card, part of Let America Build, due to the state's sluggish homebuilding activity.

To incentivize developers to bring more new homes online, Pritzker unveiled a raft of reforms as part of the Building Up Illinois Developments (BUILD) Plan aimed at cutting zoning regulations and lowering the cost of new-housing construction. 

Besides the elevated housing prices, Chicago voters are also concerned about property taxes: 62% of poll respondents said the levies have a "major" or "huge" effect on their ability to live comfortably. 

Property taxes in Chicago have increased every year for the past 30 years and more than doubled over the past decade. 

In fact, homeowners in more than a half-dozen local neighborhoods pay more than 20% of their income on property taxes. 

Among the survey takers, 82% said they believe government officials are not doing enough to combat rising property taxes. 

But it's not just homebuyers feeling the squeeze: 82% of survey participants said rent in Chicago is somewhat or much too high.