Staff Reports
Governor JB Pritzker’s recent social‑media boast — that “Illinois is the most affordable state in the country to buy a home” — landed like a puffed‑up press release dropped into a sinking ship. It’s a bold claim, easy to check, and easy to contradict with the very data most voters rely on. So let’s cut through the spin and look at what the numbers actually say about Illinois home buying, property taxes, and new construction.
Pritzker’s claim vs. the hard numbers
The governor’s line sounds great for a campaign ad, but it doesn’t survive real comparison. Realtor.com’s 2026 state report card gives Illinois a grade of C and ranks it 30th overall on affordability and homebuilding. The site lists a median listing price around $307,600 and a median household income around $80,600 — figures that yield a price‑to‑income picture nowhere near “most affordable.” Other home‑value trackers put typical Illinois home values in the low‑to‑mid $300,000 range, which is what buyers see when they shop. Those are the kinds of numbers that matter when a family decides whether they can afford a mortgage, not campaign spin.
Taxes and building matter — a lot
Affordability isn’t just about sticker price. Illinois carries among the highest effective property‑tax rates in the country — roughly around 1.9% to just over 2% of home value in many analyses — which raises monthly housing costs for homeowners. Add to that low levels of new housing permits relative to population, and you get a state that earns a middling grade on combined affordability and homebuilding. Realtor.com explicitly counts both affordability and homebuilding in its score — because supply, taxes, and construction activity shape whether housing gets cheaper or more expensive over time.
One metric doesn’t make a miracle
Maybe the governor was looking at one narrow measure where Illinois might look decent — a quirky “income surplus” calculation or a specific local index. But cherry‑picking a single favorable stat and crowing that Illinois is “the most affordable” is misleading. Some small towns and exurbs are affordable compared with expensive coastal metros, and that deserves recognition. It does not, however, give the state a free pass to slap “most affordable” on a billboard when multi‑metric national rankings say otherwise. If Governor Pritzker meant a particular dataset, voters deserve to know which one.
Honesty, policy, and the real test for families
At the end of the day, families don’t live on press releases. They balance mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and commuting costs — and they watch whether new housing is being built where people want to live. If Illinois wants to truly be more affordable, state leaders should focus on lowering effective property‑tax burdens, cutting needless red tape that chokes new homebuilding, and making it easier for local markets to expand supply. Boasts are cheap; sensible policy and honest reporting matter. Voters should demand both — and maybe ask the governor to show his math next time he brags that Illinois tops the nation for home buying.
