Sycamore, IL · Updated Oct 2026

What a Sycamore 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 Sycamore house

$9,864a year · $822 a month

Starts at $88,567 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$6,596
7.989% of $88,567, less $6,000 general homestead exemption
Electricity and gas$1,808
609 kWh a month $1,339 · 31 therms $469
Water and sewer$1,121
9 units (CCF) a month on City of Sycamore: water $49, sewer $44 a month
Trash$338
95-gallon refuse cart and 64-gallon recycling cart, weekly, $28 a month
Home insuranceNot included
We don't have a typical premium for this city yet. Add yours with Adjust.

A typical Sycamore house costs about $9,900 a year: $6,600 property tax and charges, $1,120 water and sewer, $340 trash, $1,810 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:

Seniors 65+: senior homestead exemption
This exemption is $5,000 off the assessed value of the property.
How: You may file for this exemption anytime during the year you turn 65.
Seniors 65+: assessment freeze
Allows qualified senior citizens to freeze the equalized assessed value of their property for tax purposes.
How: Requires a total household income of $75,000 or less.
Seniors 65+: smaller cart
Seniors can request a smaller 35-gallon refuse and/or recycling cart by contacting City Hall.
How: Contact City Hall.

Who serves this house

Water: City of Sycamore; Water rates, within City limits: up to 1,000 units $3.57 per unit.
Property tax: 7.99% of value; 2025 tax year (payable 2026), DeKalb County, tax code SY07
Garbage: Waste Management; The City of Sycamore is contracted with Waste Management to provide refuse and recycling services for citizens within Sycamore proper.
Sewer: City of Sycamore; Sewer rates are listed in the City's Consolidated Fee, Bond, and Penalty Schedule.
Electricity: ComEd; ComEd
Gas: NICOR; NICOR
Schools: Sycamore Community Unit School District 427; School District 427 is listed in the county tax rate table.

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: The City of Sycamore has five wells that draw water from deep sandstone aquifers.
Radium: Combined radium in 2025 was reported at 5.00 pCi/L (range 0.88-6.83), with no violation listed.
PFAS: In 2024, all wells were sampled for PFAS and none were detected above laboratory limits in the finished drinking water.

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How these numbers are made

Property tax uses DeKalb County 2025 final rates for tax code SY07 (City of Sycamore, Sycamore Library, Sycamore Park, School District 427, Kishwaukee College, county, township and road & bridge; total 7.98912 per $100 of equalized assessed value), the tax code that includes the park district; SY08 (no park) is 7.46772. Rates in the county table are per $100.
The starting value is one third of the Census median market value ($265,700 / 3), because Illinois taxes equalized assessed value (about one third of market value); no assessor median for Sycamore was found. The $6,000 general homestead exemption comes off it.
Water is $3.57 per unit (the City code defines a unit as 100 cubic feet, one CCF) plus monthly fixed charges for a 5/8-inch meter: $1.76 meter maintenance, $7.73 radium treatment and $7.31 water infrastructure improvement ($16.80 a month). Sewer is $4.94 per CCF with no separate fixed sewer charge in the schedule. The schedule prices water 'up to 1,000 units' at $3.57; the page uses that rate for all use.
Trash is the City's 2026 rate of $28.20 per unit per month, billed bimonthly on the utility bill.
Electricity is ComEd single-family without electric space heat (same components as the DeKalb page: $15.26 + $3.81 + $1.17 a month; per kWh delivery, transmission, riders and supply at the Oct 2026-May 2027 Price to Compare). Gas is Nicor Rate 1 ($21.30 a month plus 24.44 cents distribution and the October 2026 gas cost of 33 cents). Other riders and homeowners insurance are not included.
Sycamore's city code (Title 3, business and license regulations) lists occupation taxes for retailers and services, a telecommunications tax, hotel/motel, restaurant/bar, real estate transfer, motor fuel and grocery taxes, and no municipal electricity or natural gas use tax chapter, so none is added; ComEd and Nicor charges are modelled without a city utility tax.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Sycamore compares

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

Per year	Sycamore	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	7.99%	8.23%	lower than 70 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Water	$587	$872	lower than 112 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$534	$535	lower than 62 of the other 123 Illinois cities we cover
Trash	$338	$283	higher than 101 of the other 127 Illinois cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$1,808	$2,163	lower than 120 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover
Total	$9,864	$11,701	lower than 99 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. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $587 a year at typical use, lower than 112 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $587 a year at typical use, lower than 112 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

2. Trash

The fact: Trash pickup here costs about $338 a year for the standard cart, higher than 101 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 $338 a year for the standard cart, higher than 101 of the other 127 Illinois cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything about the service or the price?"

3. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $1,808 a year, lower than 120 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 $1,808 a year for a typical house, lower than 120 of the other 131 Illinois cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

Common questions about Sycamore house costs

What is the property tax rate in Sycamore?

About 7.99% of the value before exemptions a year (2025 tax year (payable 2026), DeKalb County, tax code SY07), plus flat charges on the same bill.

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

About $39,466 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions with the general homestead exemption.

How much is the water bill in Sycamore?

About $93 a month for water and sewer at typical use (9 units, or 6,732 gallons a month) on City of Sycamore.

How much does trash pickup cost in Sycamore?

$28 a month for a house.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Sycamore?

Yes. Seniors 65+: senior homestead exemption: This exemption is $5,000 off the assessed value of the property.

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

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