Chicago: who pays more, who pays less under a land value tax
Revenue-neutral shift of the City of Chicago's own property tax levy
(tax year 2024, $1.64B) from total value toward land. Two reform intensities, modeled on
~830,000 parcels of Cook County Assessor data. Reform base is market value
(assessed value ÷ class level of assessment); current tax is gross equalized assessed
value (exemptions not applied — see notebook limitations).
2.5:1 Split-Rate
Land taxed at 2.5× the building rate — the ratio capped by the Illinois classification limit. Vacant land and housing pay more; commercial, industrial, and surface parking pay less. Land rate 8.36 × building rate 3.34 per $1,000 (market value) · revenue-neutral to
$1,642,587,611 · 830,169 modeled parcels
Category detail
Category
Parcels
Median % Δ
Median $ Δ
Net change
Vacant Land
39,925
+134.7%
$135
$17,379,227
Other Residential
4,309
+123.3%
$187
$2,479,290
Single Family Residential
278,520
+29.4%
$220
$108,944,042
Townhome / Rowhouse
23,020
+25.0%
$201
$8,793,764
Small Multi-Family (2-4 units)
120,202
+24.3%
$294
$61,124,098
Large Multi-Family (5+ units)
11,258
+20.6%
$790
$22,781,489
Mixed Use
15,962
+17.8%
$285
-$4,636,450
Condominium
287,166
+9.2%
$50
$40,238,041
Transportation - Parking
15,957
-8.2%
-$61
-$4,584,365
Industrial
11,404
-18.4%
-$381
-$16,909,319
Other
172
-30.6%
-$554
-$788,295
Retail / General Commercial
13,232
-41.0%
-$876
-$24,011,358
Other Commercial
4,359
-53.0%
-$1,449
-$40,385,324
Office / Commercial Condo
4,245
-54.1%
-$1,136
-$142,665,892
Hotel
436
-55.0%
-$14,701
-$27,759,750
100% Building Abatement (Pure Land Value Tax)
Buildings fully exempt; the entire city levy is raised from land. The land shift, taken to its maximum. Land rate 19.28 per $1,000; buildings 100% exempt · revenue-neutral to
$1,642,587,611 · 830,169 modeled parcels
