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Illinois Policy Institute Director of Fiscal and Economic
Research Bryce Hill said Chicago residents everywhere are paying
the price for the city’s rising rental apartment prices.
“The first two things that come to mind when it comes to why
housing is so expensive in Chicago are, one, property taxes,”
Hill told The Center Square. “Those are costs that are borne not
only by homeowners who occupy their own homes but also by
renters.”
Multifamily units in Chicago were priced in the neighborhood of
$1,939 in May compared to $1,639 across the country, or up by
nearly 4% over the same time last year. Hill argued that the
area’s bad fiscal policies spur much of the city’s stagnant
population along with being largely responsible for population
levels now being lower than they were more than a century ago.
“Part of the reason why people are fleeing the city, whether
they be for other suburbs within Illinois or other states
entirely, is because housing costs are so out of control,” he
said. “In addition, the services that taxpayers get in return
for their high taxes is oftentimes not bearing out when
taxpayers think of whether or not the services they receive are
worth what they're paying.”
Data shows rents across the city jumping 41% over the past
decade, including by 6.2% over the first six months of 2024
alone, to an average of $2,200 a month. Apartments.com reported
the average resident now needs to earn almost $78,000 annually
in order to afford an average apartment. Hill explained what he
feels needs to happen.
“The city could reevaluate needs,” he said. “Do we need to
actually pursue the full property tax levy increase or is there
room to offer not necessarily relief but to limit the growth?
Another area to start would be to pursue pension reform. Both
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel, mayors prior to Brandon
Johnson, advocated for statewide constitutional pension reform
and a big part of that is because all the increase in the city's
property tax levy is going to pay for unfunded pension
liabilities. It's not going to pay for the continuation of
services or new services or facilities, virtually all of that is
going to pay towards the state's unfunded pension liabilities.”
IPI analysis also found nearly half of all city renters now pay
nearly a third of their income for shelter, including almost 90%
of the city’s low-income residents, easily exceeding the federal
limit for affordability.
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