Chicago Heights, IL — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Illinois·Chicago Heights

Cook County · Chicago-Naperville-Elgin · population 26,533

AffordabilityShrinking
Chicago Heights, IL
Image: Wikipedia · Chicago Heights, Illinois
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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60
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Chicago Heights stands

At or near all-time high. population shrinking 0.9% per year.

Median home $171,137
1-year -1.3%
5-yr CAGR +5.2%
vs 5-yr peak -1.3%
Population -0.9%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-04$171k$60k$100k$140k$180k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
15/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
72/100
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 vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 10.0
Buy

At a 10.0 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Chicago Heights on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 10.0 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
43 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
66 · w22%
Distance from peak
82 · w18%
Population growth
32 · w16%
Home 10-yr CAGR
89 · w10%
Long thesis

Chicago Heights offers a $171,137 median home with +5.2% 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

Chicago Heights's population is shrinking 0.9% 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 Chicago Heights

Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, with an estimated population of 26,533. It anchors the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area. The population has contracted 0.9% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Chicago Heights is $171,137 as of 2026-04, down 1.3% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +5.2% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Chicago Heights average $1,431 per month. The composite momentum score is 60 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Healthy 5-year run: +5.2% annualized over 5 years, outpacing US inflation.
●Held the highs: currently -1.3% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
●Cheap entry point: $171,137 median home is well below the US median of $355k — room to grow without overpaying.

▼ Bear case

●Flat or shrinking population: -0.9% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Chicago Heights (Wikipedia)

Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 26,533 in 2024. A southern suburb in the Chicago metropolitan area, its nicknames include "The Crossroads of the Nation" and "Da Heights”.

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 Chicago Heights

Harvey, IL55 · StableRiverdale, IL59 · StableGranite City, IL56 · StablePosen, IL59 · Stable

Run the numbers for Chicago Heights

ToolCan I afford Chicago Heights?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Chicago Heights rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Chicago Heights to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolChicago Heights 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 Chicago Heights 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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