Sell Your Commercial Property In Champaign–Urbana, IL

Who rents in Champaign–Urbana

Champaign has 89,996 residents and Urbana 39,341 in the ACS 2020–2024 estimates. In Champaign, 20,689 of 36,815 occupied homes are rented, a 56.2% renter share, with a median household income of $56,118. Urbana's renter share is 62.7% and its median household income $45,346. In Champaign, 3,169 renter households, 15.3%, have no computed rent burden in the Census data, the category for households reporting no income or paying no cash rent, which is large in a college town.

Counting all Champaign renter households, 48.2% spend 30% or more of income on housing and 31.0% spend half or more. In Urbana, 51.9% spend 30% or more.

The University of Illinois reports 61,060 enrolled students. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 113,300 nonfarm jobs in the metro in August 2026 (preliminary), up 0.4% from a year earlier. Government, which includes the university, provides 35,700 of them, about 32%. Education and health services add 19,200, and professional and business services, which include the technology employers at the university's research park, 8,300. Metro unemployment was 3.6%.

Rents and affordability

The Census medians, $1,123 in Champaign and $972 in Urbana, include utilities and average five years of leases. HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Champaign-Urbana area:

Champaign's median sits within a dollar of the two-bedroom FMR, and the efficiency and one-bedroom FMRs are only $5 apart. Urbana's median is $150 below the two-bedroom FMR. Income sets the ceiling as well: a household paying Champaign's $1,123 median needs about $44,900 a year to keep rent at 30% of income, against a citywide median household income of $56,118; in Urbana, the $972 median takes about $38,900 against $45,346. For larger units, HUD's three- and four-bedroom figures of $1,436 and $1,486 are the benchmarks for buildings leased to groups of students.

The apartment stock

Champaign's housing is relatively young and dense. Its median year built is 1985, and buildings with five or more units hold 18,471 of 41,299 housing units, 44.7%: 3,383 in buildings of five to nine units, 5,390 in buildings of 10 to 19, 4,191 in buildings of 20 to 49, and 5,507 in complexes of 50 or more. In Urbana, median year built 1980, five-plus buildings hold 9,321 of 19,228 units, 48.5%. Across both cities, 27,792 homes, 45.9%, are in five-plus buildings. That is a higher share than Chicago's 43.1% in the same survey. Single-family detached houses are a minority: 17,833 in Champaign and 7,413 in Urbana, fewer than the five-plus units in each city. Within Urbana's five-plus stock, the largest group is buildings of 10 to 19 units, with 2,961 homes; complexes of 50 or more hold 2,393.

Property taxes on apartment buildings in Champaign County

Illinois assesses property outside Cook County at 33⅓% of market value, with no separate apartment class and no assessment cap. Township assessors revalue property every four years, and appeals go first to the Champaign County Board of Review, then to the Property Tax Appeal Board within 30 days of the board's written notice.

The county clerk's tax year 2025 rate book lists these district rates for property in Champaign:

• Champaign Unit 4 Schools: 4.5886%
• City of Champaign: 1.3152%
• Champaign County: 0.7567%
• Champaign Park District: 0.6564%
• Parkland College: 0.5104%
• Forest Preserve District: 0.0959%

Those six total 7.9232% of equalized value before township, transit, library and other levies. On a one-third assessment, they alone come to about $26,400 a year on a $1 million building.

Landlord rules and local compliance

• Urbana: the city's rental registration and inspection program covers single-family, duplex and multi-family rentals, renews each year from October 15 to October 14, and targets inspections on a three- to five-year cycle. University Certified Housing is excluded.
• Champaign: the city is proposing a residential rental registry to keep owner and local agent contacts on file for code and emergency issues. Check its status before a sale.
• Rent control: the Illinois Attorney General states Illinois has no rent control law, and state law bars local rent control.
• Deposits: in buildings of five or more units, the Security Deposit Return Act requires an itemized statement within 30 days; buildings of 25 or more units owe interest on deposits held six months.
• Transfer: the state transfer tax is $0.50 per $500 of value, plus a county transfer tax.

What this means if you own a building here

Buyers will look at the leasing calendar as much as the rent roll: pre-leasing for the next academic year, unit mix and how rents compare with HUD's FMRs. Have trailing net operating income, Urbana inspection records if they apply, and the last two tax bills ready. Skyline buys 5+ unit buildings in Campustown, Urbana, Savoy and Rantoul. Try the cap rate calculator or start at sell my apartment building.