Calumet City, IL — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Illinois·Calumet City

Cook County · Chicago-Naperville-Elgin · population 34,855

AffordabilityShrinking
Calumet City, IL
Image: Wikipedia · Calumet City, Illinois
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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58
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Calumet City stands

Population shrinking 0.8% per year.

Median home $154,661
1-year -2.9%
5-yr CAGR +4.4%
vs 5-yr peak -2.9%
Population -0.8%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-04$155k$53k$91k$128k$166k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
76/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,682/mo$1,239$1,546$1,852202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent103128100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 7.7
Buy

At a 7.7 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Calumet City on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 7.7 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
36 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
61 · w22%
Distance from peak
73 · w18%
Population growth
33 · w16%
Rent YoY
77 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
90 · w10%
Long thesis

Calumet City offers a $154,661 median home with +4.4% annualized 5-year appreciation. Affordability + positive trend is one of the better risk/reward setups in US residential — small downside, room to compound.

Short thesis

Calumet City's population is shrinking 0.8% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.

About Calumet City

Calumet City is a city in Cook County, Illinois, with an estimated population of 34,855. It anchors the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area. The population has contracted 0.8% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Calumet City is $154,661 as of 2026-04, down 2.9% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.4% annual growth (-2.9% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Calumet City average $1,682 per month, up 4.9% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 58 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -2.9% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
●Cheap entry point: $154,661 median home is well below the US median of $355k — room to grow without overpaying.

▼ Bear case

●Cooling: -2.9% over the trailing year — momentum has stalled.
●Flat or shrinking population: -0.8% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.

About Calumet City (Wikipedia)

Calumet City is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 36,033 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Cook County right now.

NWS active alerts (IL)Illinois Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Cook County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Calumet City

Harvey, IL55 · StableChicago Heights, IL60 · StableSteger, IL49 · StableDanville, IL46 · Cooling

Run the numbers for Calumet City

ToolCan I afford Calumet City?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Calumet City rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Calumet City to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolCalumet City cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
33° / 18°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
85° / 64°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
189
~52% of year
Annual precip
38″ rain
22″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
High
Wildfire
Very low
Earthquake
Low
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Calumet City listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
71%
Humid climate
Median household income
$78,400
Illinois state median
Top industries (state-level)
FinanceManufacturingHealthcare

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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