Zillow puts Chicago’s typical home value at $335,521 and typical observed market rent at $2,409 a month. Those inputs imply an 8.6% simple gross yield, calculated as twelve months of ZORI divided by ZHVI and before every operating and financing cost. The typical value is 4.3x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI equals 37.1% of that income. These citywide affordability comparisons frame screening, not a claim about achievable rent, purchase price or net return for a specific property.
Chicago has 1,277,054 housing units; 9.1% are vacant, and renters occupy 54.0% of occupied units. ACS surveyed occupied housing reports a median owner-reported home value of $334,100 and median gross rent of $1,440, which includes contract rent plus selected utilities. Those ACS measures differ in definition, coverage and period from Zillow’s typical home value and observed market rent. They should neither be averaged nor used as interchangeable pricing evidence.
Among city renter households for whom burden is calculated, 48.3% spend at least 30% of income on rent. Single-family homes account for 29.2% of housing units and large multifamily buildings for 27.0%. Of all vacant units, 27.1% are classified as for rent, but this survey context neither measures available investment inventory nor proves a particular unit will lease quickly. Population was 0.06% above the overlapping earlier ACS vintage; the comparison is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $77,902, with poverty at 16.8% and unemployment at 8.0%; these describe demand constraints without establishing their cause or a property’s tenant quality.
Cook County context reports a 1.908% effective property-tax rate. DuPage County context separately reports 2.046%; neither county record measures Chicago city property or should be combined with the other. The broader Chicago metro recorded 0.15% job growth and 14,826 authorized housing units, useful demand and supply context but not city outcomes. The national Freddie Mac thirty-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, a financing benchmark rather than a Chicago borrower quote.
Citywide gross yield excludes taxes, insurance, maintenance, capital work, management, owner-paid utilities, vacancy, turnover and debt service. City vacancy and Cook County and DuPage County market data cannot resolve a property’s lease-up or expenses. Before underwriting, verify the address-level purchase basis, legal unit count, achievable rent and concessions, utility responsibility, lease status, taxes and reassessment, insurance and hazards, building systems and repairs, code or association restrictions, financing terms, and vacancy and capital reserves.