This three-bedroom home, 1613 E. Algonquin Road in Des Plaines, has a property tax bill of $7,882. | zillow.com
This three-bedroom home, 1613 E. Algonquin Road in Des Plaines, has a property tax bill of $7,882. | zillow.com
Property owners in Des Plaines paid more than two percent of the value of their homes in taxes last year. That’s nearly two times the national average, according to an LGIS analysis of real estate sales data in NW Cook County from Jan 1. to June 30.
Local Government Information Service (LGIS) publishes North Cook News.
Des Plaines, population 58,141, recorded a median sale price of $215,500, based on data from the 557 residential properties sold during the first half of 2018. In 2017, homeowners paid a median property tax bill of $4,483, according to county tax data from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.
That’s 2.08 percent of the community’s median home value. In the U.S., the average effective property tax rate is 1.19 percent.
Put another way: a $215,500 home in Indiana, where the effective rate is 0.89 percent, would have a property tax bill of about $1,918, or more than $2,500 per year.
The analysis, including 23 NW Cook County communities, shows homeowners in Barrington Hills and Bartlett pay the highest property taxes in the county, each clocking in with effective rates higher than three percent.
Buffalo Grove, Inverness, Rolling Meadows, South Barrington, Streamwood, Prospect Heights, and Elgin all have rates of 2.5 percent or higher.
Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property taxes in the country with an effective median rate of 2.32 percent, just behind those in New Jersey's (2.28 percent).
Top Property Rates in NW Cook County
The following table ranks NW Cook County communities by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.
| City | Jan - June 2018 Sales | Jan - June 2018 Median Price | Median tax | Effective tax rate |
| Barrington Hills | 13 | $520,000.00 | $19,103 | 3.67% |
| Bartlett | 166 | $228,500.00 | $7,063 | 3.09% |
| Buffalo Grove | 159 | $200,000.00 | $5,431 | 2.72% |
| Inverness | 59 | $510,000.00 | $13,665 | 2.68% |
| Rolling Meadows | 206 | $198,750.00 | $5,260 | 2.65% |
| South Barrington | 28 | $650,000.00 | $16,682 | 2.57% |
| Streamwood | 383 | $190,000.00 | $4,793 | 2.52% |
| Prospect Heights | 96 | $241,250.00 | $6,077 | 2.52% |
| Elgin | 172 | $174,500.00 | $4,355 | 2.50% |
| Hanover Park | 121 | $200,000.00 | $4,932 | 2.47% |
| Schaumburg | 662 | $190,000.00 | $4,638 | 2.44% |
| Hoffman Estates | 399 | $250,000.00 | $6,077 | 2.43% |
| Mount Prospect | 367 | $285,000.00 | $6,768 | 2.37% |
| Palatine | 681 | $255,000.00 | $5,802 | 2.28% |
| Roselle | 33 | $228,500.00 | $5,187 | 2.27% |
| Arlington Heights | 662 | $320,000.00 | $7,192 | 2.25% |
| Elk Grove Village | 324 | $240,000.00 | $5,324 | 2.22% |
| Wheeling | 245 | $200,000.00 | $4,333 | 2.17% |
| Barrington | 60 | $372,750.00 | $7,995 | 2.14% |
| Park Ridge | 322 | $387,500.00 | $8,189 | 2.11% |
| Des Plaines | 557 | $215,500.00 | $4,483 | 2.08% |
| Niles | 209 | $275,000.00 | $5,118 | 1.86% |
| Rosemont | 16 | $364,500.00 | $5,696 | 1.56% |
Median Sales Prices in NW Cook County
The following table ranks NW Cook County cities by the year-over-year change in median sale price, which is calculated using prices of properties sold during the first six months of 2018.
| City | Jan - June 2017 Sales | Jan - June 2017 Median Price | Jan - June 2018 Sales | Jan - June 2018 Median Price | Change |
| Palatine | 685 | $225,000 | 681 | $255,000 | 13.33% |
| Wheeling | 268 | $176,750 | 245 | $200,000 | 13.15% |
| Roselle | 34 | $204,500 | 33 | $228,500 | 11.74% |
| Rosemont | 10 | $334,500 | 16 | $364,500 | 8.97% |
| Hanover Park | 148 | $183,750 | 121 | $200,000 | 8.84% |
| Des Plaines | 599 | $200,000 | 557 | $215,500 | 7.75% |
| Elgin | 208 | $162,500 | 172 | $174,500 | 7.38% |
| Arlington Heights | 721 | $300,000 | 662 | $320,000 | 6.67% |
| South Barrington | 37 | $615,000 | 28 | $650,000 | 5.69% |
| Streamwood | 384 | $183,000 | 383 | $190,000 | 3.83% |
| Niles | 213 | $268,000 | 209 | $275,000 | 2.61% |
| Hoffman Estates | 374 | $244,000 | 399 | $250,000 | 2.46% |
| Elk Grove Village | 243 | $238,000 | 324 | $240,000 | 0.84% |
| Schaumburg | 709 | $190,000 | 662 | $190,000 | 0.00% |
| Mount Prospect | 374 | $285,000 | 367 | $285,000 | 0.00% |
| Bartlett | 152 | $232,750 | 166 | $228,500 | -1.83% |
| Rolling Meadows | 191 | $205,000 | 206 | $198,750 | -3.05% |
| Park Ridge | 333 | $400,000 | 322 | $387,500 | -3.13% |
| Prospect Heights | 107 | $250,000 | 96 | $241,250 | -3.50% |
| Buffalo Grove | 169 | $211,000 | 159 | $200,000 | -5.21% |
| Barrington | 74 | $417,500 | 60 | $372,750 | -10.72% |
| Inverness | 64 | $578,000 | 59 | $510,000 | -11.76% |
| Barrington Hills | 12 | $727,500 | 13 | $520,000 | -28.52% |
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