The Cook County Clerk's tax rate report for tax year 2025 runs one example through every part of the county: a home with a $250,000 market value and a homeowner exemption. In the City of Chicago the bill is $4,506. In the north and northwest suburbs it is $5,257. In the south and west suburbs it is $7,799.
Same value. The south and west suburban bill is 73 percent higher than Chicago's, or $274 a month next to the mortgage payment. When your buyer is choosing between two homes at the same price in different towns, that gap can decide which one is more affordable.
Quick Answer
At the Clerk's tax year 2025 rates, a $250,000 home with a homeowner exemption pays about $4,506 in Chicago, $5,257 in the north and northwest suburbs and $7,799 in the south and west suburbs. The rate depends on the taxing bodies at the exact address, the assessed value may differ from the price, and the seller's exemptions may not carry over. Compare the buyer's estimated bill, not the listing's number.
Why the rate differs by address
Every Cook County parcel sits in a tax code, a unique combination of taxing bodies: elementary and high school districts, the municipality, parks, libraries, fire protection and other special districts. Each sets its own levy. The Clerk adds their rates into the composite rate printed on the bill. For tax year 2025 the Clerk published rates for 4,536 tax codes.
The spread is wide:
- City of Chicago: a general composite rate of 6.853%. The city's 1,018 tax codes run from that rate up to 9.871%, where special districts such as special service areas add to it.
- North and northwest suburbs: 7.996% on average.
- South and west suburbs: 11.862% on average.
- Suburban municipalities: average composite rates from 6.357% at the low end to 35.774% at the high end.
Two blocks apart, across a district line, the composite rate can change. School districts are often the largest part of the bill. See school levies vs. assessment and TIF districts and your bill.
The Clerk's comparison, step by step
The arithmetic is the same everywhere. Only the rate changes.
The shared steps:
- Market value $250,000, assessed at 10%: $25,000
- Times the 2025 state equalization factor of 3.0300: $75,750 of equalized assessed value
- Minus the $10,000 homeowner exemption: $65,750
Times each rate:
- Chicago, 6.853%: about $4,506 a year
- North and northwest suburbs, 7.996%: about $5,257
- South and west suburbs, 11.862%: about $7,799
The gap between the first and last is about $3,293 a year. At a $400,000 market value, the same steps give about $7,621 in Chicago and $13,191 at the south and west suburban average, a gap of about $5,570 a year, or $464 a month.
The suburban figures are regional averages. The real rate for a home is its own tax code's rate, which can sit well above or below the average.
Three adjustments before you trust the comparison
Use the record's value, not the price. The Assessor's estimated market value may be above or below the contract price. Use the number on the record.
Strip the seller's exemptions. If one seller has senior or freeze exemptions, that bill understates what the buyer will pay. See how to estimate the buyer's bill.
Note the reassessment year. Rates and values move together. In the north suburbs' 2025 reassessment, the Clerk reports that the region's average rate fell 12.9% while the average single-family bill rose 10.24%. A falling rate is not a falling bill. Chicago is reassessed next, for tax year 2027, then the north suburbs.
How to run it with a buyer
- Pull each home's PIN.
- Take the composite rate from the most recent bill.
- Take the assessed value from the Assessor's record.
- Remove exemptions the buyer will not have, and add the homeowner exemption if they will live there.
- Convert the annual figure to monthly, next to the mortgage payment.
Show the rate, not just the dollars. A buyer who understands why the bills differ trusts the number more.
Keep the school conversation about taxes
Tax rates and district boundaries are facts you can share. Characterizing schools as "good" or "bad," or steering buyers toward or away from areas, raises fair-housing problems. Share the tax facts and official sources. Let buyers research schools and choose for themselves.
A higher rate does not imply better schools, and a lower rate does not imply worse ones. The Clerk's own report says a city or village with a more modest tax base will tend to have a higher rate.
Where Censum House fits
Censum House's Buyer Compare puts up to three homes side by side, with the exemptions this buyer would qualify for. School Tax Reality ranks Cook County K-12 districts by tax weight, appeal odds and exemption gap. Every report runs under your brand. Figures are record-backed estimates, not tax advice.
The numbers behind this article
Rates, the sample bills and the reassessment figures are from the Cook County Clerk's 2025 Tax Rate Report, released September 23, 2026. The Clerk's suburban averages are total tax in the region divided by total equalized assessed value there; municipal averages are by PIN. The tax code count and the Chicago range are Censum's tabulation of the Clerk's 2025 tax code agency rate file. The $400,000 figures apply the Clerk's method to a higher value. Censum is independent and is not affiliated with Cook County or any government agency.
FAQ
How different can two Cook County tax bills be at the same price?
At the Clerk's 2025 rates, a $250,000 home with a homeowner exemption pays about $4,506 in Chicago and $7,799 at the south and west suburban average. Individual tax codes range further.
Can a buyer lower the tax rate?
No. Rates come from the taxing bodies' levies. An appeal can only address the property's assessed value.
Where do I find a home's tax rate?
On the most recent tax bill, or through the Treasurer's and Clerk's tax records for the PIN.
Does a higher tax rate mean better schools?
No conclusion should be drawn either way. Rates depend on levies and the tax base, not school quality.
Why use the Assessor's value and not the sale price?
The bill is built from the assessed value. The sale price affects it only later, through the next reassessment or an appeal that uses the sale as evidence.
Sources
- Cook County Clerk, Tax Extension and Rates
- Cook County Clerk, 2025 Tax Rate Report, released September 23, 2026
- Cook County Clerk, 2025 Tax Code Agency Rates (Excel)
- Cook County Assessor, Classification of Real Property
- Cook County Treasurer
Next step
Show your buyer the carrying cost of each home side by side, from each home's own rate. See Buyer Compare in Censum House
Censum LLC is a data and analytics company, not a law firm and not a tax advisor. Censum is independent and is not affiliated with Cook County or any government agency.