Moving to Homer Glen, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?

by Brian Wittman

Homer Glen is the rare Illinois town that does not charge you a village property tax. It has not levied one since it incorporated in 2001, and its only property tax receipt is road and bridge funds.

That is a real thing, and it does exactly what you would expect to the rate. Homer Glen's median effective property tax rate is 2.50 percent, lower than Lockport at 2.86 percent and New Lenox at 2.74 percent.

Now the catch, and it is the whole story of this town. Homer Glen's median tax bill is 9,912 dollars. Lockport's is 7,131. The town with the lowest rate of the three pays the biggest bill, because the median house here runs about 401,000 dollars against Lockport's 264,000. A lower rate on a more expensive house still wins.

Should you buy a home in Homer Glen, Illinois?

Homer Glen fits a buyer who wants a large lot, a quiet built-out town, and top-tier elementary schools, and who is willing to pay a high absolute tax bill to get it. Homeownership here is 94.9 percent and the median household income is 136,678 dollars, which tells you what kind of housing stock this is. The honest catches are three. There is no Metra station in the village. There is no municipal police department, since the Will County Sheriff has policed Homer Glen under contract since 2000. And this is a mature town rather than a growing one, with population up just 1.3 percent over the last five years.

What makes Homer Glen's parks and open space stand out?

Homer Glen runs its own Parks Department, which maintains 200 acres of open space, 13 parks with 11 playgrounds, six miles of trails and a sports complex.

Note what that is not. There is no Homer Glen Park District, and the difference is money. A park district is a separate taxing body with its own line on your bill. A parks department is funded out of the village budget. Between that and the village not levying a property tax at all, Homer Glen simply has fewer entities reaching into your tax bill than most towns around it.

The catch is that the Village is only one of three agencies with parkland here. Add Homer Township and the Forest Preserve District of Will County and the total public land in and around the village runs past 1,300 acres with about 17 miles of trail. So when you see a big acreage number for Homer Glen, check which one it is counting.

Heritage Park is the centerpiece at 103 acres behind Village Hall on 151st Street, with a bike trail, a fishing pond stocked with bass, bluegill and catfish, a fitness course, pavilion, pickleball, tennis, sand volleyball, a playground and a walking track. Worth knowing before you drive out: the Village says plainly that the park is open but many sections are still under construction. The first expansion phase finished in 2025, and a second phase covering a veterans memorial, a pavilion and a water feature is in design.

The rest of the village system spreads out into the subdivisions: Erin Hills, Kingston Hills, Stonebridge, Goodings Grove, Evlyn's Gate North, Glenview Walk, Culver, Goreham, Lamers, Sendra and Yangas parks, plus the sports complex.

Homer Township runs Morris Park, an 18 acre site with soccer fields, a fishing pond and a playground, plus Trantina Farm Park with walking and equestrian trails through wetland and prairie restoration, and a free off-leash dog park across the road.

The one most people miss is Messenger Woods Nature Preserve on Bruce Road, 549 acres with a 407 acre dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve inside it. It was the Forest Preserve District's first land acquisition back in 1930. It has more than three miles of natural surface trail, four primitive campsites including two that are ADA accessible, two picnic shelters, and a spring wildflower bloom that draws people from outside the county.

Families should also know that Homer Township contracts with two Special Recreation Associations, Lincolnway and Northern Will County, which offsets out-of-district fees for township residents using adaptive recreation, Special Olympics and camp programs.

How are the schools in Homer Glen, IL?

This is where Homer Glen gets specific, and where an address matters more than a town name.

Three separate K-8 districts serve the village: Homer District 33C, Will County District 92, and New Lenox District 122. All three feed into Lockport Township High School District 205. The Village states that all of Homer Township sits within District 205, and it also warns on its own schools page that the elementary boundaries are approximate and you should confirm with the district. Take that seriously. One of District 33C's own schools, William J. Butler, has a Lockport address on Farrell Road.

Here is how they actually perform, from the 2024-2025 Illinois Report Card:

District	ELA proficient	Math proficient
Homer CCSD 33C	77.3%	62.9%
Will County SD 92	77.1%	52.4%
New Lenox SD 122	66.6%	57.6%
Lockport Township HSD 205	57.4%	51.4%
Illinois statewide	52.4%	38.4%

Every district here beats the state on both subjects. But read the column, not the average. The elementary districts beat it by a wide margin and the high school district beats it by a narrower one. On science, District 205 posts 57.1 percent proficient against 44.6 percent statewide, and it graduates 97 percent of its students against a state rate of 89 percent. The state's summative designation for District 205 is Commendable.

Check the current numbers yourself at illinoisreportcard.com, and treat GreatSchools or Niche as opinion layers on top of the state data rather than as the data.

What do homes in Homer Glen actually cost?

As of July 2026, the median sold price is 571,000 dollars and the median list price on active inventory is 695,000. That 124,000 dollar gap is not a discount waiting for you. It means what is listed and what closes are different mixes of house, which is why a town-wide median will mislead you and a comp on your actual street will not.

The market is tight. Homes are going under contract at a median of seven days, closing at 100.6 percent of asking, with 1.81 months of inventory. The town's median estimated value is up 8.3 percent over twelve months.

What you are buying, structurally, is space. Homer Glen's zoning code leads with an E-1 Single-Family Estate district and an E-2 Single-Family Rural Residence district, and its R-2 district is written for lots "uniquely suited to residential lots of one acre." A municipality whose code opens with an estate district and a district named rural residence is telling you what it is.

Figures are as of July 2026. For what is actually live today, check current Homer Glen market data, and if you want the real recent closings for your price band and the specific part of town you are looking at, ask me and I will pull them.

One thing to confirm parcel by parcel: water and sewer. Illinois American Water operates three wastewater reclamation facilities inside the village and delivers Lake Michigan water by pipeline, but the Village does not publish how many homes sit on private wells or septic instead. On 22 square miles of estate-zoned ground, do not assume. Ask, and check with the Will County Health Department.

What will property taxes run in Homer Glen?

Start with the number that makes this town unusual: the Village has levied no municipal property tax since 2001. Your bill funds the elementary district, High School District 205, Community College District 525, fire and forest preserve districts, township services and Will County. The Village's only slice is road and bridge.

	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Homer Glen	2.50%	$9,912	$401,324
New Lenox	2.74%	$9,411	$346,155
Lockport	2.86%	$7,131	$263,822
Illinois median	2.33%

So Homer Glen is neither a low-tax town nor a high-tax town. It is a low-rate, high-bill town, and one fewer taxing body is the reason the rate sits where it does. If you are weighing this against moving to Lockport, IL or considering New Lenox, that is the actual trade: you pay a lower rate on a more expensive house and write a bigger check.

Two practical rules before you write an offer. Pull the actual parcel's tax history rather than trusting a listing's tax line, because Illinois property taxes are the number that decides what a house here really costs. And know the calendar: Will County's next general reassessment year is 2027, which lands on the bill you pay the following year, since Illinois pays taxes in arrears. Treat today's number as a snapshot and budget a cushion above it. If yours comes back wrong, appealing your property taxes in Will County is free and it is not complicated.

What is the commute from Homer Glen really like?

There is no Metra station in Homer Glen. That is the single biggest lifestyle trade in this town, and it is worth saying out loud before you fall in love with a house.

Residents use one of two stations, both outside the village. Orland Park's 179th Street station on the SouthWest Service runs into Union Station and has 319 parking spaces, all daily-only. Lockport's station on the Heritage Corridor has 394 spaces. Before you plan around Lockport, check the Heritage Corridor timetable. It is Metra's most limited line, and the schedule is the thing that decides whether it works for your shift, not the mileage.

By car, two Interstate 355 interchanges serve the village, with 143rd Street, 159th Street (Route 7) and Bell Road as the commercial corridors.

Do the honest math out loud before you commit. The drive to the station, the parking, the buffer you leave, then the train. That total is your commute, and it is longer than any schedule says.

Is Homer Glen a good place to buy for the next 5 to 10 years?

Homer Glen is a stability play, not a growth play, and you should buy it as one.

The population went from 24,543 at the 2020 census to an estimated 24,873 in 2025. That is 1.3 percent over five years, essentially flat. The village spans about 22 square miles and is largely built out. There is 710,500 square feet of retail in the 143rd and Bell commercial district carrying part of the load.

For a five to ten year hold, that profile has real advantages. A 94.9 percent homeownership rate means very little of the housing stock turns into rental inventory, and a built-out town is not going to surprise you with a thousand new rooftops competing with your resale. What it will not do is deliver the appreciation that comes from a town in the middle of its growth curve. If you want to see how that trade shows up across the region, it is the same lens behind how I rate these towns.

On the neighborhood-data side, the objective numbers are worth knowing too. Over the five years through August 2026, the FBI logged 273 larcenies and 28 aggravated assaults in Homer Glen, a village of about 25,000. Note that policing runs through the Will County Sheriff under contract rather than a village department, with a substation next to Village Hall. Check the current data yourself; the FBI Crime Data Explorer is the primary source.

How I rate Homer Glen

Category	Rating	Why
Property taxes	★★★★	2.50 percent median effective rate, and the Village levies no municipal property tax
Schools	★★★★	Lockport Township HSD 205 is Commendable, with ELA, math and science proficiency above the state
Parks and recreation	★★★★	Village, township and forest preserve land past 1,300 acres with Messenger Woods in town, but no indoor recreation or aquatic facility
Dining and nightlife	★★★	Everyday and casual dining, mostly solid sports bars spread along the commercial corridors rather than a walkable district
Walkability	★	Walk Score 14
Chicago access by train	★	No station in the village
Chicago access by car	★★★★	Two I-355 interchanges inside the village, 34 to 40 driving miles to the Loop depending on the route

Every one of those thresholds is published, so you can check my work and disagree with it. Here is what each star actually means, including the two categories that rest on judgment rather than data, and the one thing I will not rate.

The Bottom Line

Homer Glen is a large-lot, high-homeownership, built-out town with genuinely strong elementary schools and no village property tax. You will pay one of the bigger tax bills in the area anyway, because the houses cost more, and you will drive to a train.

If that trade fits how you actually live, this is a good place to own for a long time. Before you write an offer, do three things: pull the parcel's real tax history, confirm the water and sewer source on that specific property, and verify the elementary district at the address rather than the town.

If you want that math run on a specific house, reach out and I will pull it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Homer Glen a good place to live?

It fits buyers who want space, a quiet built-out town, and strong elementary schools, and who can absorb a high absolute property tax bill. Homeownership runs 94.9 percent and the median household income is 136,678 dollars per the Census. The trade-offs are no Metra station in the village and no municipal police department.

How much does a house cost in Homer Glen?

As of July 2026, the median sold price is 571,000 dollars and the median list price is 695,000. Homes are closing at 100.6 percent of asking in a median of seven days. The gap between list and sold reflects a different mix of homes, not a discount, so a comp on your street beats any town median.

What are property taxes like in Homer Glen?

The median effective rate is 2.50 percent and the median bill is 9,912 dollars. The rate runs below Lockport and New Lenox, partly because the Village has levied no municipal property tax since 2001, but the bill is higher because the houses are worth more. Will County's next general reassessment is 2027.

How long is the commute from Homer Glen to Chicago?

There is no Metra station in the village. Residents drive to Orland Park's 179th Street station on the SouthWest Service or to Lockport on the Heritage Corridor. Check the current timetable before planning around Lockport, since the Heritage Corridor runs limited service. Two I-355 interchanges serve the village for drivers.

How are the schools in Homer Glen?

Three K-8 districts serve the village, Homer 33C, Will County 92 and New Lenox 122, and all three feed Lockport Township High School District 205. Every one beats the state on ELA and math proficiency, and District 205 graduates 97 percent against a state rate of 89 percent. The Village warns that elementary boundaries are approximate, so verify at the address.

Does Homer Glen have its own police department?

No. The Will County Sheriff's Office has provided police services under contract since 2000, with dedicated deputies, sergeants and a lieutenant assigned to the village and a substation next to Village Hall that is not continuously staffed.

Are homes in Homer Glen on well and septic?

It varies by parcel and it is worth confirming before you write an offer. Illinois American Water operates three wastewater reclamation facilities in the village and delivers Lake Michigan water by pipeline, but the Village does not publish how many properties are on private systems. Check the listing, the seller's disclosure, and the Will County Health Department for the specific address.

Last updated: September 2026

Schedule a time to put together a plan to move to Homer Glen if this sounds like the right place for you.

Brian Wittman is a licensed real estate broker (Real Broker LLC), mortgage loan originator (NMLS #2646598, NEXA Mortgage, LLC, Equal Housing Lender), and life insurance producer (Levinson & Associates). This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial, lending, tax, or legal advice, an offer, or a commitment to lend; all loans are subject to credit approval. Information is accurate as of the publication date; for current details and full disclosures, visit https://bluejeanbroker.com/disclosures.