Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Illinois (2026)

Galesburg is both the cheapest city on this list and the one where rent goes furthest against price: a $110,000 median closed price carries a $1,100 median asking rent, a gross yield of 12.0 percent. Second is Alton: 11.2 percent gross, $115,000 to buy, $1,075 a month to rent. One caution on the rent side: in Rockford houses asked a median of $1,600 while the all-type median was $1,325. For a house, compare house rents with house sale prices; substituting the house rent into a ratio whose denominator is a mixed sale median only makes the number look better, not more representative. Rockford, the busiest market on the list with about 173 closings a month, sits fourteenth of 20 at 9.1 percent. The median city on this list closed at $191,325, well below the Illinois statewide median of $324,900. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 87 Illinois cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. A second table lists four cities with enough closings to price but too few rental listings to rank.

The ranking

Gross yield here is an asking rental yield screen: twelve times the median asking rent over the median closed price, before taxes, insurance, vacancy, management or repairs. Sales use municipal boundaries. Rental listings use the associated city name and may cover a wider postal area. The ratio therefore compares related, but not perfectly matched, market samples, and a home bought at the median price does not necessarily earn the median rent. Confirmed-close medians appear where at least 30 confirmed lease closes were recorded in the window.

City by city

1. Galesburg, 12.0 percent gross

Only 57 rental listings sit behind Galesburg's $1,100 median; the yield is real but less settled than in cities with hundreds. The numbers: $110,000 median closed price across 229 closings, $1,100 median asking rent across 57 listings, 12.0 percent gross. Full detail is on the Galesburg market page.

2. Alton, 11.2 percent gross

The numbers: $115,000 median closed price across 201 closings, $1,075 median asking rent across 123 listings, 11.2 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $96 per square foot. The Alton market page carries the monthly figures.

3. Granite City, 11.0 percent gross

The numbers: $120,000 median closed price across 232 closings, $1,100 median asking rent across 146 listings, 11.0 percent gross. The Granite City market page carries the monthly figures.

4. Homewood, 11.0 percent gross

Homewood ranks fourth on yield but only thirteenth on entry price: the $2,250 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $245,500 to buy and $2,250 a month to rent, Homewood yields 11.0 percent gross on 159 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $162 per square foot. See the Homewood page for the property mix and the price band.

5. Decatur, 10.4 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Decatur far: it is first cheapest on this list and fifth on yield, with rent of $950 against a $110,000 median price. Homes in Decatur closed at a median of $110,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $950, a gross yield of 10.4 percent. Houses there closed at about $77 per square foot. See the Decatur page for the property mix and the price band.

6. Lansing, 10.3 percent gross

Lansing ranks sixth on yield but only tenth on entry price: the $1,600 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $185,900 to buy and $1,600 a month to rent, Lansing yields 10.3 percent gross on 215 tracked closings. See the Lansing page for the property mix and the price band.

7. Loves Park, 10.2 percent gross

Loves Park ranks seventh on yield but only eleventh on entry price: the $1,675 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. Homes in Loves Park closed at a median of $196,750 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,675, a gross yield of 10.2 percent. The Loves Park market page carries the monthly figures.

8. Belvidere, 10.0 percent gross

Rent is what puts Belvidere eighth here; on price alone it would sit twelfth of 20. The numbers: $215,000 median closed price across 177 closings, $1,800 median asking rent across 58 listings, 10.0 percent gross. The Belvidere market page carries the monthly figures.

9. Peoria, 9.5 percent gross

Peoria moves fast, 8 days from listing to contract at the median, which matters more than its 9.5 percent yield if you cannot close quickly. At $141,000 to buy and $1,118 a month to rent, Peoria yields 9.5 percent gross on 965 tracked closings. See the Peoria page for the property mix and the price band.

10. Round Lake Beach, 9.3 percent gross

Rent is what puts Round Lake Beach tenth here; on price alone it would sit fourteenth of 20. At $267,500 to buy and $2,075 a month to rent, Round Lake Beach yields 9.3 percent gross on 157 tracked closings. See the Round Lake Beach page for the property mix and the price band.

11. Belleville, 9.3 percent gross

Homes in Belleville closed at a median of $150,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,160, a gross yield of 9.3 percent. Houses there closed at about $104 per square foot. Full detail is on the Belleville market page.

12. Rock Island, 9.2 percent gross

Rock Island is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: fifth on price, twelfth on yield, because a $130,000 home there rents for only $1,000. At $130,000 to buy and $1,000 a month to rent, Rock Island yields 9.2 percent gross on 267 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $99 per square foot. The Rock Island market page carries the monthly figures.

13. Wheeling, 9.1 percent gross

At $308,500 to buy and $2,350 a month to rent, Wheeling yields 9.1 percent gross on 245 tracked closings. See the Wheeling page for the property mix and the price band.

14. Rockford, 9.1 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Rockford far: it is ninth cheapest on this list and fourteenth on yield, with rent of $1,325 against a $175,000 median price. At $175,000 to buy and $1,325 a month to rent, Rockford yields 9.1 percent gross on 1,036 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $106 per square foot. The Rockford market page carries the monthly figures.

15. Schaumburg, 9.1 percent gross

Homes in Schaumburg closed at a median of $313,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,368, a gross yield of 9.1 percent. Full detail is on the Schaumburg market page.

16. Tinley Park, 9.1 percent gross

Homes in Tinley Park closed at a median of $318,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,400, a gross yield of 9.1 percent. Houses there closed at about $193 per square foot. The Tinley Park market page carries the monthly figures.

17. Hanover Park, 9.0 percent gross

Homes in Hanover Park closed at a median of $315,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,350, a gross yield of 9.0 percent. The Hanover Park market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Pekin, 8.8 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Pekin far: it is seventh cheapest on this list and eighteenth on yield, with rent of $1,050 against a $142,500 median price. At $142,500 to buy and $1,050 a month to rent, Pekin yields 8.8 percent gross on 287 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Pekin market page.

19. Pingree Grove, 8.8 percent gross

Only 57 rental listings sit behind Pingree Grove's $2,600 median; the yield is real but less settled than in cities with hundreds. Homes in Pingree Grove closed at a median of $354,990 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,600, a gross yield of 8.8 percent. Houses there closed at about $197 per square foot. See the Pingree Grove page for the property mix and the price band.

20. Buffalo Grove, 8.8 percent gross

The numbers: $396,000 median closed price across 347 closings, $2,900 median asking rent across 301 listings, 8.8 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $244 per square foot. Full detail is on the Buffalo Grove market page.

Priced, but too few rentals to rank

These cities cleared 100 tracked closings but fewer than 50 rental listings carried their name in the last twelve months, so no yield is printed for them.

How this ranking is built

• •Cities: every Illinois city where Resideline tracked at least 100 closings inside the municipal boundary in its reporting window (six or twelve months) and at least 50 rental listings under the city's name since September 10, 2025: 87 cities qualify and the table shows the 20 highest-yielding.
• •Prices: the median price homes closed at inside the city limits, from Resideline's tracked closings; the state comparison uses the statewide median of $324,900 across 79,984 closings.
• •Rents: the median advertised rent on rental listings Resideline tracked in the last twelve months, all property types, measured on the listings that carry the city's name (a postal footprint, wider than the city line in some places).
• •Confirmed-close medians: Observed rent blends two kinds of record: confirmed lease closes extracted from property records, and the final asking rent on listings that left Resideline tracking without a recorded close. Where a city has at least 30 confirmed closes in the window, their median is printed beside the asking figure; in the last twelve months about a quarter of Resideline's close episodes are confirmed closes. The asking and confirmed-close samples are separate, not paired, so a difference between their medians is not a measured gap on the same listings.
• •What is missing: taxes, insurance, vacancy, management and repairs, which turn a gross yield into a net one, and the unit mix, which differs between what sells and what rents.

Sources and related pages

• •Resideline tracked closings inside city limits (window per city, updated September 10, 2026) and rental listings since September 10, 2025; confirmed lease closes extracted from property records.
• •More Illinois rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Illinois ranks the same kind of list with each city's price per square foot for houses, realized appreciation and days to contract beside the median, and Cap Rate by City ranks the Illinois cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Illinois housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Illinois markets by closings.
• •Asking rent vs observed rent compares live asking rents with final asking rents under that study's own definition; it says nothing about confirmed lease closes.

Prepared with Resideline's research pipeline and reviewed by Jeffrey Batista, Resideline's founder.