The new Optima Chicago Center in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood is a good example of how the economy is supporting the downtown's luxury rental market, but the rest of Cook County is not faring so well.
CHICAGO—In the past few years, this city's downtown and many surrounding neighborhoods have noticeably transformed into hubs for luxury apartment living. Attracted by the tech jobs, among other industries, growing in the CBD, thousands of new residents have streamed into the many gleaming new towers. But that is not the story of Cook County.
According to a recent report prepared by RENTCafe.com, a nationwide apartment search website, the county has been one of the nation's big losers in terms of population. Using the most recent US Census Bureau county-level population data, the group found that Chicago's home county lost 290,000 residents due to domestic migration, which does not count gains from immigration or births, the second most of any county in the last five years. Only Los Angeles County, which lost a net of 381,000 people, fared worse.
RENTCafe.com feels that even though many metro areas, like Chicago and Los Angeles, can boast of impressive progress when it comes to creating high-income jobs and homes, the high cost of living is putting a squeeze on middle-income earners.
“According to the US Census Bureau, around 55% of those who decide to move do so for a housing-related reason, such as to relocate to a new or better home, to find cheaper housing, or to own their home instead of rent,” RENTCafe.com says.
Experts recommend that the ratio of home prices to household income in a healthy metro area should be 2.6. But in Los Angeles County, where the rent costs on average $2,100 per month or 38% of income, the median price of a home is around $630,000, almost 10 times the median yearly income of $66,000 in this area.
Cook County is a bit of an outlier among the ten counties that lost the most population. Although its ratio is at 4.1, considerably higher than the recommendation, it's still much lower than LA, or NY counties such as Kings, Queens and the Bronx, which range from 6.8 to 11.3.
“High taxes are also often blamed for the population decrease in Cook County,” RENTCafe.com says. Even though the local economy is strong in many ways, “many are leaving it to escape the high taxes. Chicago area property taxes are higher than 93% of the US. Steep county and city sales taxes are adding to the total tax burden.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
