$545,000
Brick Georgian, three bedrooms
Evanston
House · 3 beds · 2.5 baths · 1,850 sq ft · built 1931
Market$2,91035% of pay
With assistance$1,757$172,689 recoverable
Illustrative example
North Shore · Cook County
Evanston
Metra UP-N from Evanston Davis Street to Ogilvie Transportation Center, 29 to 30 minutes on a weekday. Most of the town is served by Evanston-Skokie School District 65 and Evanston Township High School District 202.
Key figures
Typical home, August 2026
$493,385
+34% since January 2020 ($368,656)
Payment on it at 7%
$2,626
a month, 20% down ($98,677), 30 years
Median household income
$96,434
±$2,339, 2020–2024
Payment as a share of that income
32.7%
21.9% in January 2020
Householders under 35 who own
16%
±3 points, 2020–2024
Monthly gap, same share of pay as 2020
$869
$130,599 of assistance closes it
Home values since 2000, against pay
Zillow Home Value Index, monthly. Earnings: BLS median usual weekly earnings, full-time workers 16+, annual averages; Q2 2026 for this year. Over a long span the comparison depends on the starting year, which is why the site measures what the monthly payment takes from pay, and compares it with January 2020.
The gap, job by job
By the site's method the monthly gap in Evanston is the same for every job whose pay grew at the national pace: it is the part of the payment rise that pay growth did not cover. What differs from job to job is how much of each paycheck the payment now takes.
| Job (Chicago metro median pay) | Jan 2020 | Today | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountant$82,360 a year | 25.6% | 38.3% | +12.7 pts |
| Carpenter$80,440 a year | 26.2% | 39.2% | +13.0 pts |
| Electrician$102,350 a year | 20.6% | 30.8% | +10.2 pts |
| Elementary school teacher$78,390 a year | 26.9% | 40.2% | +13.3 pts |
| Firefighter$82,820 a year | 25.5% | 38.0% | +12.6 pts |
| High school teacher$98,970 a year | 21.3% | 31.8% | +10.5 pts |
| Paramedic$77,670 a year | 27.1% | 40.6% | +13.4 pts |
| Physical therapist$105,720 a year | 19.9% | 29.8% | +9.9 pts |
| Plumber$103,380 a year | 20.4% | 30.5% | +10.1 pts |
| Police officer$107,810 a year | 19.6% | 29.2% | +9.7 pts |
| Registered nurse$100,490 a year | 21.0% | 31.4% | +10.4 pts |
| Social worker$64,790 a year | 32.5% | 48.6% | +16.1 pts |
One earner. Two-earner households and other rates: use the explorer below.
Homes in Evanston
Payments for Registered nurse ($100,490 a year), 20% down at 7.03%.
$445,000
Frame bungalow, three bedrooms
Evanston
House · 3 beds · 1.5 baths · 1,450 sq ft · built 1924
Market$2,37628% of pay
With assistance$1,757$92,689 recoverable
Illustrative example
$270,000
Courtyard condo, two bedrooms
Evanston
Condo · 2 beds · 1 bath · 1,000 sq ft · built 1928
Market$1,44117% of pay
With assistance$1,441no gap
Illustrative example
$715,000
Foursquare, four bedrooms
Evanston
House · 4 beds · 2.5 baths · 2,350 sq ft · built 1912
Market$3,81746% of pay
With assistance$1,757$308,689 recoverable
Illustrative example
Homes in Evanston with filters
Equal Housing Opportunity. The foundation supports the Fair Housing Act: we do not discriminate in any program on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, familial status or national origin, or any class protected by Illinois law. Listing information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed; confirm details with the listing brokerage. Homes marked “Illustrative example” are not for sale: they show what assistance would do at typical prices in each town.
Try a household
In Evanston, the payment on the typical home takes 31.4% of the pay of a registered nurse today, up from 21.0% in January 2020.
- Typical home (2026-08)
- $493,385
- Same home, January 2020
- $368,656
- Payment today at 7.00%
- $2,626
- Payment at the 2020 share of pay
- $1,757
- Monthly gap
- $869
- Assistance that closes it
- $130,599
Principal and interest, 20% down, 30-year fixed. Typical home: Zillow Home Value Index. Pay: BLS median wage, Chicago metro, May 2025; January 2020 pay is estimated with the national growth in median full-time earnings (+30.7%). Latest weekly average rate 7.03% (2026-09-24). More on Evanston
Sources
- Typical home value: Zillow Home Value Index, Evanston, August 2026 (and January 2020, January 2000).
- Median household income and ownership by age: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, place 1724582.
- Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro, annual median.
- Trains: Metra weekday inbound timetable, scheduled minutes, retrieved September 28, 2026.
- Schools: district boundaries from Census TIGER and district websites. All weekday inbound trains stop at Davis Street. Districts 65 and 202 cover the whole city.