Housing in Illinois, especially affordable housing is a problem. Illinois Governor Pritzker has given voice to the issue, and in Quincy a strategic task force has been formed by the mayor to address the current housing problem.

Property taxes have been going up. Acreage prices have been going up, and home prices have also seen a jump recently. Lack of new homes is a part of the problem. Short of new building projects across the state, where could someone find affordable homes in Illinois?

Certainly not in Chicago. Cook County or the collar counties have elevated home prices, property values and property taxes too. Pretty much anything north of I-80 is off the list of 2025 "affordable", especially for new home buyers. That leads us downstate.

Welcome to the metro east. Madison County has many lovely places to live, some basic, some very posh. (Full disclosure, I grew up in Edwardsville, the county seat.) Madison County is also home to the community with the most affordable homes in the state. Venice. (the above pic is from Venice, Illinois)

The average home price in the USA is $367,711..(!!!) in Venice, Illinois - Per Zillow - the average home price is valued at $33,318...(also !!!). Venice is just across the McKinley Bridge from North St. Louis, and borders both Madison and Granite City, Illinois which have slightly more expensive homes. If Illinois affordability is your quest, believe it or not Madison County is the destination.