McHenry Times

Property owners in Lakewood paid nearly 3.5 percent of the value of their home in taxes last year. That’s nearly three times the national average, according to an LGIS analysis of real estate sales data in McHenry County from Jan 1. to June 30. 

Local Government Information Service (LGIS) publishes the McHenry Times.

Lakewood, population 3,928, recorded a median sale price of $340,000, based on data from the 53 properties sold during the first half of 2018. In 2017, homeowners paid a median property tax bill of $11,727, according county tax data from McHenry County Assessment Office.

That’s 3.45 percent of the community’s median home value. In the U.S., the average effective property tax rate is 1.19 percent.

Put another way: a $340,000 home in Indiana, where the effective rate is 0.89 percent, would have a property tax bill of about $3,026, or more than $8,700 less per year.

The analysis, including 25 McHenry County communities, shows homeowners in Barrington Hills, Bull Valley, Lakewood, Richmond, Prairie Grove, Cary, Lakemoor and Harvard pay the highest property taxes in the county: between 3 and 4 percent of their homes' value each year.

Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property taxes in the country with an effective median rate of 2.32 percent, just behind those in New Jersey (2.28 percent). 

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Top property rates in McHenry County

The following table ranks McHenry County communities by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.

City	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Median tax	Effective Property Tax Rate
Barrington Hills	10	$431,750	$15,956	3.70%
Bull Valley	12	$337,750	$11,722	3.47%
Lakewood	53	$340,000	$11,727	3.45%
Richmond	29	$126,000	$4,179	3.32%
Prairie Grove	27	$325,000	$10,416	3.21%
Cary	180	$210,000	$6,700	3.19%
Lakemoor	22	$151,250	$4,642	3.07%
Harvard	56	$107,500	$3,297	3.07%
Crystal Lake	419	$202,000	$5,857	2.90%
McHenry	308	$176,250	$5,054	2.87%
Fox River Grove	43	$245,000	$7,015	2.86%
Algonquin	190	$227,000	$6,497	2.86%
Spring Grove	60	$289,500	$8,221	2.84%
Island Lake	45	$170,000	$4,803	2.83%
Woodstock	233	$165,000	$4,659	2.82%
Lake in the Hills	329	$210,000	$5,879	2.80%
Marengo	56	$157,000	$4,100	2.61%
Oakwood Hills	30	$219,000	$5,703	2.60%
Port Barrington	18	$275,000	$7,089	2.58%
Huntley	188	$240,500	$6,068	2.52%
Johnsburg	53	$250,000	$6,153	2.46%
Wonder Lake	107	$140,000	$3,386	2.42%
Pistakee Highlands	29	$140,000	$3,215	2.30%
Hebron	12	$151,384	$3,208	2.12%

Source: Blockshopper.com; McHenry County Assessor’s Office

Median sales prices in McHenry County

The following table ranks McHenry County cities by their year-over-year change in median sale price, which is calculated using prices of properties sold during the first six months of 2018.

City	Jan - June 2017 Sales	Jan - June 2017 Median Price	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Change
Johnsburg	56	$209,500	53	$250,000	19.33%
Prairie Grove	21	$283,000	27	$325,000	14.84%
Island Lake	49	$150,000	45	$170,000	13.33%
Oakwood Hills	23	$196,000	30	$219,000	11.73%
Marengo	63	$142,000	56	$157,000	10.56%
Fox River Grove	34	$224,000	43	$245,000	9.38%
Hebron	8	$139,000	12	$151,384	8.91%
Lake in the Hills	348	$196,000	329	$210,000	7.14%
Lakemoor	29	$142,000	22	$151,250	6.51%
Wonder Lake	105	$132,000	107	$140,000	6.06%
Woodstock	214	$156,000	233	$165,000	5.77%
McHenry	289	$168,000	308	$176,250	4.91%
Crystal Lake	384	$194,500	419	$202,000	3.86%
Port Barrington	11	$270,000	18	$275,000	1.85%
Spring Grove	39	$285,000	60	$289,500	1.58%
Harvard	64	$107,500	56	$107,500	0.00%
Bull Valley	18	$342,250	12	$337,750	-1.31%
Cary	158	$215,500	180	$210,000	-2.55%
Algonquin	214	$235,000	190	$227,000	-3.40%
Pistakee Highlands	33	$145,000	29	$140,000	-3.45%
Huntley	225	$254,500	188	$240,500	-5.50%
Richmond	27	$140,000	29	$126,000	-10.00%
Lakewood	44	$379,250	53	$340,000	-10.35%
Barrington Hills	11	$521,500	10	$431,750	-17.21%

Source: Blockshopper.com; McHenry County Recorder of Deeds