Chicago, IL · Updated Oct 2026

What a Chicago home costs each year

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Chicago house

$8,396a year · $700 a month

Starts at $77,079 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$4,597
6.853% of $77,079, less $10,000 general homeowner exemption
Electricity and gas$2,680
583 kWh a month $1,494 · 74.87 therms $1,186
Water and sewer$1,006
9 units (CCF) a month on City of Chicago: water $42, sewer $42 a month
Trash$114
Single-family home, weekly city collection, $10 a month
Home insuranceNot included
We don't have a typical premium for this city yet. Add yours with Adjust.

A typical Chicago house costs about $8,400 a year: $4,600 property tax and charges, $1,010 water and sewer, $110 trash, $2,680 electricity and gas; home insurance is not included (no typical premium yet). Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 30, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Who serves this house

Water: City of Chicago; Water rate per 1,000 cubic feet effective 6/1/2026
Property tax: 6.85% of value; 2025 tax year, Cook County tax code 70001

Pay or manage your bills

Pay your water bill ↗

Other IL cities

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How these numbers are made

Property tax uses Cook County tax code 70001 (the most common of Chicago's 1,018 tax codes) 2025 agency rates, applied to equalized assessed value less the $10,000 homeowner exemption.
Water and sewer: $37.18 per 1,000 cubic feet water, sewer 100% of water, plus the water-sewer tax of $1.255 per 1,000 gallons each on water and sewer, all per CCF.
Electricity adds ComEd delivery fixed charges, per-kWh delivery with IEDT, the October 2026 price to compare, Chicago's 0.61 cents per kWh electricity use tax and the 0.53 cents per kWh electricity infrastructure maintenance fee (Code ch. 3-54, first 2,000 kWh a month). The city page says the fee is imposed on electricity deliverers; it is modelled here as passed through on the bill. It also adds the Illinois electricity excise tax of $0.0033 per kWh on the first 2,000 kWh a month. ComEd delivery rates are from the April 2026 guide and may reset in January 2027.
Gas adds the customer charge, distribution charge ($0.46583 per therm, per the current Peoples Gas rates page), gas charge, storage charge ($0.08257 per therm for sales customers), the uncollectible-expense factor (0.0338 of the gas charge), the state gas revenue tax (2.4 cents per therm, the lower of that or 5% at this bill size) and Chicago's 6.3 cents per therm gas use tax. Qualified infrastructure plant, energy-efficiency and environmental riders are filed as percentages or per-customer amounts and are not itemised.
The water default of 9 ccf a month is a modelling assumption, not a figure published by the city. The page assumes a metered account; many Chicago homes are unmetered and pay a different, frontage-based charge that this page does not model.
The property tax base is implied, not measured: it is the Cook County Treasurer's Chicago-wide median bill ($4,597) divided by tax code 70001's total rate, plus the $10,000 exemption, so the bill reproduces the median by construction. No published Chicago median assessed value was found.
Typical use is 583 kWh a month (ComEd 2024 residential average, EIA) and 74.87 therms a month (Illinois 2024 residential average, EIA); both are statewide-utility averages, not Chicago-specific.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Chicago compares

A typical Chicago house against the 132 Illinois cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Chicago	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	6.85%	8.23%	lower than 115 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Water	$503	$872	lower than 123 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$503	$535	lower than 65 of the other 123 Illinois cities we cover
Trash	$114	$283	lower than 121 of the other 127 Illinois cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,680	$2,163	higher than 125 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Total	$8,396	$11,701	lower than 117 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Property tax rate

The fact: Chicago's property tax rate is 6.85%, lower than 115 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Chicago is 6.85%, lower than 115 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"

2. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $503 a year at typical use, lower than 123 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $503 a year at typical use, lower than 123 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

3. Trash

The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $114 a year for the standard cart, lower than 121 of the other 127 Illinois cities we cover. Where trash is billed through the tax bill or a separate hauler, it is not counted here.

Ask: "Trash pickup here costs about $114 a year for the standard cart, lower than 121 of the other 127 Illinois cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"

4. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $2,680 a year, higher than 125 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $2,680 a year for a typical house, higher than 125 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

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Common questions about Chicago house costs

What is the property tax rate in Chicago?

About 6.85% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year, Cook County tax code 70001), plus flat charges on the same bill.

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Chicago?

About $33,580 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the general homeowner exemption.

How much is the water bill in Chicago?

About $84 a month for water and sewer at typical use (9 units, or 6,732 gallons a month) on City of Chicago.

How much does trash pickup cost in Chicago?

$10 a month for a house.

How much does a house in Chicago cost to run each year?

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