Thinking about renting an apartment in Illinois? You might be spending a lot, depending upon which city you choose.
Zumper recently released its Illinois Rent Report, charting the most expensive cities in Illinois in which to rent. It will come as no surprise that Chicago features the highest average monthly rents in the state. But some of the other numbers are surprising.
Zumper reported that in September the average median one-bedroom rent in Chicago stood at $1,980, or $890 more than the state one-bedroom median rent. But the western suburb of West Chicago was just as expensive, boasting the same $1,980 median one-bedroom rent in September.
Coming in a close second to those two cities was the suburb of Glenview, where median one-bedroom rents hit $1,950 in September. Algonquin came in fourth, with a median one-bedroom rent of $1,710, while Highland Park rounded out the top five with a median one-bedroom rent of $1,520.
This doesn’t mean that all the cities in Illinois feature high apartment rents. Zumper also listed the least expensive Illinois cities in which to rent.
Freeport, with a median one-bedroom apartment rent of $400, ranked as the least expensive rental market in Illinois. The median one-bedroom rent here is $490 cheaper than the state’s median.
Decatur wasn’t much more expensive — just $30 — with a median one-bedroom rent of $430. Rounding out the five least expensive rental markets in the state were Alton ($450 median one-bedroom rent), Rock Island ($490) and Collinsville ($510).
