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Affordable Housing
You can search for affordable housing online on a variety of sites that feature listings across the state of Illinois.
In Cook County
Cook County Navigator Program?
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) supports site-based affordable rentals in many rural communities. See a listing of available rural USDA-supported rentals.
Housing Counseling
Housing counseling services are supports to help people search for housing options. Visit the Housing Counseling page to learn more and find contact information for the Housing Counseling agency closest to you so that you can request help with finding housing.
The Statewide Referral Network is housing set-aside with affordable, income based, and subsidized housing options for people who (1) earn under 30% of the Area Median Income and (2) work with a service provider. Check with your service provider to see how you can apply through the Statewide Referral Network.
Any service provider can join this network to complete housing applications with households if they agree to support the households with applying for housing once referred and continue to provide ongoing services to the household after they are housed.
Affordable Housing
This page is designed to offer ideas to help you find housing in the community with lower rent amounts.
Tips for Your Search
All Chicago, the Chicago Continuum of Care lead agency, authored this presentation with tips on finding affordable housing. Many of the suggestions apply across the state of IL.
Understanding the Area Median Income
Affordable housing can sometimes be available for people earning under a specific percentage of the Area Median Income or AMI. When you look at what people earn in a county, the median income is the midpoint amount meaning half of the households in that county earn more than that amount and half earn less.
In Illinois, there is specific housing available for households earning below 30% of the Area Median Income. This means that the household earns less than 30% of what is considered the halfway income point for that housing area.
To know if a household is earning under 30% of the AMI, visit this Housing and Urban Development website and search by State and County. Then search by household size as it varies depending on how many people would be living in the household. On this site 30% AMI is called Extremely Low Income.
The Area Median Income amount changes every year, though typically new AMI amounts are not released by the federal government until March or April of any given year.
Example of how a household's size affects their relation to Area Median Income.
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