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Considering buying a home in Illinois? The Prairie State, especially Chicago, is known for its Chicago-style hot dogs, deep-dish pizza, and Wrigley Field. The state is 390 miles long from north to south and 340 miles from east to west, so you have options for where to buy property.
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However, some places are better than others, and some are probably better avoided entirely. Here are the four worst cities in Illinois to buy real estate over the next five years, taking into account crime rates, property taxes, poverty levels and potential for appreciation in value.
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Cahokia Heights
Cahokia Heights is close to the Illinois-Missouri border, making for a short commute for those working in St. Louis. However, you may want to avoid buying real estate in Cahokia Heights due to high poverty rates, population decline, and pollution. City-Data.com reports that since 2000, Cahokia Heights has seen a 16.2% population decline.
“I don’t want to buy real estate in Cahokia Heights because the population continues to decline and the infrastructure is underfunded,” said Yancey Forsythe, founder of Missouri Valley Homes. “Cahokia Heights faces serious challenges and is a risky investment for real estate buyers like me.”
Additionally, the percentage of residents living in poverty is 30.3%, which is extremely high compared to neighboring areas. High poverty rates and declining populations indicate low or no potential value. If these factors aren’t enough to deter you from visiting the Cahokia Plateau, pollution may be the culprit. Cahokia Heights ranked 41st on City-Data.com’s 2012 list of counties with the highest nitrogen dioxide air pollution measurements and 75th on the list of counties with the highest sulfur oxide air pollution measurements.
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Peoria
“Peoria’s economic base, which relies heavily on manufacturing, is facing significant disruption from deindustrialization,” said Jim Sandford, a real estate expert and founder of Freedom Properties Direct. “Although the city has attempted to diversify its economy, job opportunities remain scarce compared to other cities in Illinois. The decline in the job market has contributed to population decline, resulting in real estate Values are also declining.”
Peoria ranks third on NBC Chicago’s 2023 Worst Rated Cities list with a percentage of 61.7%. For reference, between 1998 and 2002, the average home price increased by 154%. According to City-Data.com, Peoria’s population growth has receded by 1.7 percent since 2000, meaning more people are leaving the city than moving into it.
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Additionally, approximately 17.4% of the city lives in poverty and the crime index is 509.4, much higher than the national average.
When you buy a home in Peoria, you can pay about 2.4% of the price in property taxes, or about $3,662. This is slightly higher than the Illinois average of 2.08%. If you want to buy real estate in Illinois, avoid Peoria.
springfield
Unlike Cahokia Heights and Peoria, Springfield has seen modest population growth of 1.6% since 2000, City-Data.com reported. The poverty rate is also lower than Cahokia Heights at 15.0%. However, Springfield holds the second spot for cities with the lowest rate of increase since 1998 at 61.4%. Property taxes are also close to the state average at 2.1%.
Despite slow population growth and low poverty rates, Springfield’s crime rate is higher than the U.S. average at 441.5 crimes.
Construction of new single-family homes has also slowed over the past five years, indicating the city is not attracting new residents. This means that purchasing a home in Springfield may result in stagnant growth. There are many other cities in Illinois that are showing promising growth results compared to Springfield.
decatur
Decatur ranked sixth on the list of cities with the lowest home price growth rate at 62.3%. Even if you are not looking for appreciation, you may have a hard time finding employment opportunities. According to City-Data.com, Decatur’s population has declined by 15.6% since 2000 and the poverty rate is 18.0%. Depopulation and high poverty rates highlight minimal employment opportunities.
The number of crimes is higher than the national average of 373.1, and the number of robberies, assaults, robberies, and auto thefts are higher than the state average. Additionally, property taxes are assessed at approximately 2.4% of the home value, which is also higher than the Illinois average.
All of these factors combined may make you want to avoid buying real estate in Decatur.
conclusion
Were these cities originally on your list of places to call home? If so, why not consider other cities like Evanston, Naperville, or Aurora? All of these cities have low crime rates, healthy population growth, and promising job markets.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 4 worst cities in Illinois to buy real estate in the next five years, according to real estate agents
