Property Tax in Cook County, Illinois
The median real estate tax bill in Cook County, Illinois is $6,053 per year, and the median home is worth $305,200. Both figures are the US Census Bureau's survey medians for owner-occupied households (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What the Cook County numbers mean
The median is the midpoint of the county's actual bills: half of Cook County homeowners pay more than $6,053 a year and half pay less. The exact bill for any one home depends on its assessed value, exemptions, and which school, municipal and special districts cover it.
Set against the median home value of $305,200, the median bill works out to a derived effective rate of 1.98%. That rate is an estimate computed from the two medians — no county publishes a rate calculated this way — but it adjusts for home prices, which makes comparisons between counties more meaningful.
Cook County by the numbers
| Measure | Cook County | Illinois | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid | $6,053 | $5,189 | $2,969 |
| Median home value | $305,200 | $250,500 | $303,400 |
| Derived effective rate* | 1.98% | 2.07% | 0.98% |
| Median tax per month | $504 | $432 | $247 |
*Estimate derived from Census medians (tax ÷ value), not an official rate.
Cook County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Illinois: #7 of 102 counties
- Median home value rank in Illinois: #3 of 102
- Population rank in Illinois: #1 of 102 (5,185,812 residents)
- Population density rank: #1 of 102 (5,488 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Illinois: #6 of 102 (944 sq mi, 1.7% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $504; per $1,000 of home value: $1.98
How Cook County compares
The median tax bill in Cook County is about 17% higher than the state median ($5,189 for Illinois) and about 104% higher than the US median ($2,969 nationally). By median taxes paid, the county ranks #7 out of 102 Illinois counties with published Census data — 6 counties in the state have a higher median bill.
Comparisons cut both ways: a county can have a modest rate but high bills because homes are expensive, or a high rate but modest bills because homes are cheaper. Cook County's derived rate of 1.98% sits above the derived US figure of 0.98%.
Some extra context for Cook County: the median bill works out to about $504 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,983 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 5,185,812 people — the #1 most populous county in Illinois, spread over 944 square miles, a density of about 5,488 people per square mile. Its median home value, $305,200, ranks #3 among the state's 102 counties with data.
Nationally, Cook County's median bill of $6,053 ranks #81 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 3% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 40.9% of Illinois's population, its median home value is about 22% above the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 19.83% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Cook County to the most expensive county, Lake County ($8,743), is $2,690 a year.
Counties nearest Cook County in the Illinois ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| McHenry County, IL | $7,153 | $286,900 | 2.49% |
| Will County, IL | $6,993 | $298,000 | 2.35% |
| DeKalb County, IL | $5,889 | $231,900 | 2.54% |
| Grundy County, IL | $5,260 | $259,200 | 2.03% |
How the tax is worked out
Think of the final bill as three ingredients: the assessed value of the property, the exemptions subtracted from it, and the combined rate of every district the property sits in. Cook County's medians imply a derived rate of 1.98%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $7,932 a year, or around $661 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Checking your assessment in Cook County
If your bill looks wrong, work through these steps:
1. Get your property record card from the assessor and check the basics — living area, lot size, bedrooms, condition, and any exemptions you should have.
2. Compare your assessed value with recent sale prices of similar homes in Cook County.
3. Talk to the assessor's office informally first; clear errors are often fixed without a hearing.
4. If needed, file a formal appeal with the local review board before the deadline on your assessment notice, with your evidence attached.
5. Keep paying the bill as issued while the appeal runs, unless your notice says otherwise — unpaid taxes accrue penalties regardless of an appeal.
More Illinois counties
Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Cook County, Illinois?
The median real estate tax paid in Cook County, Illinois is $6,053 per year, on a median home value of $305,200 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Cook County, Illinois?
The derived effective rate is 1.98% — the median bill ($6,053) expressed as a share of the median home value ($305,200). No authority sets a rate this way; it exists to make counties with different home prices comparable.
How does Cook County compare with the rest of Illinois?
By median taxes paid, Cook County stands at #7 among the 102 Illinois counties the Census publishes figures for. Its $6,053 median bill is about 17% higher than the state median ($5,189), and 6 counties in the state record a higher median.
How are property taxes calculated in Cook County, Illinois?
The assessor estimates your property's market value; exemptions (such as a homestead exemption) reduce the taxable amount; and the result is multiplied by the combined rates of the local taxing districts — county, municipality, school district and any special districts. In Cook County, the median outcome of that process is a bill of $6,053 on a median home value of $305,200.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Cook County, Illinois?
You can. Pull your property record card from the Cook County assessor, verify its details, and compare the assessed value against similar homes that sold recently. If the value still seems too high, submit a formal appeal to the board named on your notice before the stated deadline — usually a 30-to-90-day window.