For cash flow, Waukegan, IL deserves the first property-level screen. Its Zillow gross yield is 7.99%, versus 5.76% in Duluth, MN, while its Zillow city home-value index is $247,565 versus $303,635. This is only a gross starting signal: underwrite achievable unit rent, vacancy, taxes, insurance, repairs, management, utilities, financing and capital work before advancing a deal.
Waukegan also better fits entry affordability and renter pressure. Its price-to-income measure is 3.44 versus Duluth’s 4.41, and renters represent 49.78% of households versus 40.62%. Waukegan’s vacancy rate is 3.57%, compared with 6.33% in Duluth. The next check is whether target blocks and unit types preserve that apparent renter depth without introducing collection, turnover or regulatory risk.
Housing stock points toward Duluth when the strategy favors single-family or larger multifamily options: those shares are 62.35% and 15.50%, respectively, compared with Waukegan’s 58.62% and 12.01%. Local demand is less definitive, although Waukegan’s overlapping-vintage ACS population change of 2.04% exceeds Duluth’s 1.37%. Verify neighborhood-level employment access, leasing velocity, concessions, household formation and asset condition rather than treating citywide indicators as property performance.