Skokie, IL · who rents here

Who rents in Skokie — and what they actually pay

25.9% of Skokie households rent rather than own. Here's what U.S. Census data says they earn, pay, and how stretched they are — alongside today's market rate.

25.9%
of households rent (6,198 of 23,971)
$1,491
median gross rent renters actually pay
31.6%
of income spent on rent — rent-burdened

What renters pay vs the market rate

Two honest numbers, measuring two different things:

MeasureAmountWhat it captures
Census median gross rent$1,491/moWhat current Skokie renters pay — rent plus utilities, across all lease vintages, averaged over 2019–2023 ACS 5-year
ZORI market rate today$2,167/moWhat a typical unit rents for on the open market right now (rent only)

The market rate runs about $676 (45%) higher than the typical rent on the Census books. That gap is real but it is not a single clean discount: part of it is a genuine sitting-tenant effect (households on older leases pay less than today's asking rents), and part is timing — the Census figure is a 2019–2023 ACS 5-year average, so it lags the market, and it includes utilities while the market index does not. Treat it as a range, not a precise number. The honest takeaway: if you already rent in Skokie you likely pay less than a new mover would today, and renewing usually beats re-renting at market.

Income and affordability

Median household income in Skokie is $93,550. At that income, the rule-of-thumb affordable rent (30% of income) is about $2,339/month — and the typical renter household actually spends 31.6% of income on rent, over the 30% "rent-burdened" line.

By ZIP code

ZIPAreaRentersMedian gross rentMedian income
60077North Skokie / Old Orchard34%$1,450$80,765
60076South Skokie21%$1,576$103,870

Renter share = renter-occupied ÷ all occupied homes. ZIP figures use ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but don't exactly match postal ZIP boundaries.

Source & caveats

Renter share, median gross rent, rent burden, and income come from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (2019–2023 ACS 5-year) — a public dataset. "Gross rent" includes utilities; the market figures elsewhere on this site come from Zillow's ZORI and do not. ACS 5-year estimates carry margins of error we don't display here, and they describe households that already live here, not what's listed today. For the current-market picture, see the Skokie rent overview; for full sourcing, the methodology.