Cost of Living & Housing in Freeport
Freeport's cost of living pairs genuinely affordable housing with Illinois's real, statewide flat 4.95% income tax and a real, disclosed, notably high local property tax rate -- the highest of any Stephenson County municipality.
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Learn moreGenuinely affordable housing, by two disclosed measures
Freeport's 2026 Zillow Home Value Index ran approximately $153,016 (up ~7.0% year-over-year) -- well below both Illinois's statewide figure ($294,136) and the national figure. A separately cited average current-listing asking price ran lower still, approximately $104,172, reflecting the real difference between a smoothed typical-value index and a simple average across a small, thin local listings pool -- both measures point to the same real conclusion of substantial affordability (base record).
The highest property tax rate in Stephenson County
Freeport itself was specifically cited this pass as carrying the highest effective property tax rate of any Stephenson County municipality, at approximately 3.13% -- nearly double Illinois's already highest-in-the-nation statewide average effective rate (1.88%-2.08%). Stephenson County's own broader county-average rate ran lower, cited anywhere from 2.46% to 3.02% depending on source and methodology, but Freeport's own rate ran meaningfully above even that county average (base record).
Illinois's flat 4.95% income tax, with a real retirement-income exemption
Illinois's simple, statewide flat 4.95% income tax applies to wages in Freeport as everywhere else in the state -- but Illinois taxes NONE of a retiree's Social Security, pension, or 401(k)/IRA income, with no age or income threshold, a real, substantial positive for retirees specifically that applies equally in Freeport (see illinois.js).
A genuinely small, thin local sales market
The real, disclosed gap between Freeport's ZHVI typical-value figure and its lower average-listing-price figure reflects a genuinely small, thin local housing market -- a real characteristic of far-northern Illinois's rural county-seat markets worth understanding before assuming either figure alone tells the full story.
Key takeaways
- Freeport's 2026 typical home value (~$153,016) runs genuinely affordable relative to both Illinois and national figures.
- Freeport carries the highest effective property tax rate (~3.13%) of any Stephenson County municipality -- nearly double Illinois's own already-high statewide average.
- Illinois's flat 4.95% income tax applies to wages, while retirees benefit from a real, no-threshold exemption of Social Security, pension, and 401(k)/IRA income.
- A real, disclosed gap between Freeport's ZHVI and average listing price reflects a genuinely small, thin local housing market.
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