Year-over-year rents rose in Illinois while falling nationwide. Champaign-Urbana posted the country’s fourth-highest increase.
The Chicago area saw the largest increase in apartment rents in the past year among the country’s 10 biggest metro areas.
Rents also rose in Illinois as a whole while falling in the country, according to rental site Apartment List.
The 3.1% year-over-year increase in the Chicago area as of June was almost double the New York area’s 1.6% and almost triple Philadelphia’s 1.1%.
In the Los Angeles area, rents fell 1.1% in the past year and dropped 3.5% in Phoenix.
Rents rose 7.8% in Champaign-Urbana, the fourth-highest jump in the country and topping even the San Francisco area’s 7.4% increase. Rents were up 7.2% in the city of Chicago.
The biggest jump in the U.S. was 16.5% in the Lake Charles, Louisiana, area.
Illinois rents rose 3.2% in the year ended in June. Nationwide, rents fell 1.2%.
On top of rising rent, Illinoisans face the highest property taxes in the nation. Those taxes directly relate to rent, which landlords must raise to cover those taxes.
The situation is made worse by Chicago’s low housing production. Lower rent is necessary to ensure an affordable cost of living.
