Most cash-strapped cities in Illinois (2026)

Zebra Finance Cash Strain Index · Published 2026-10-25 · Data: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024

Riverdale is the most cash-strapped city in Illinois on our Cash Strain Index, followed by East St. Louis, Cahokia Heights. We ranked all 224 Illinois cities with 10,000+ residents on rent burden, low household incomes, poverty and unemployment. Western Springs ranks as the least strained.

All 224 Illinois cities ranked

Rank	City	Score	Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent	Households under $35k	Poverty rate	Unemployment rate	Rent as % of median income
1	Riverdale	100.0	74.6%	43.0%	41.5%	16.1%	37.1%
2	East St. Louis	99.8	63.0%	49.1%	32.8%	17.3%	28.5%
3	Cahokia Heights	99.7	67.2%	52.4%	34.1%	10.0%	34.8%
4	Dolton	98.7	72.3%	34.2%	21.7%	12.8%	28.7%
5	Harvey	98.4	61.0%	43.1%	22.6%	13.4%	27.2%
6	DeKalb	97.9	66.5%	39.3%	24.9%	10.2%	26.6%
7	Markham	97.5	77.9%	25.0%	18.0%	8.7%	33.9%
8	Chicago Heights	97.2	50.5%	34.6%	26.9%	14.6%	22.7%
9	Calumet City	96.7	63.5%	34.2%	23.4%	10.6%	25.5%
10	South Holland	95.7	80.4%	19.8%	14.4%	11.5%	26.1%
11	Blue Island	94.6	50.9%	32.0%	17.1%	15.5%	21.6%
12	Macomb	94.1	49.9%	42.5%	25.1%	10.4%	20.7%
13	Urbana	93.9	58.3%	43.2%	28.0%	4.7%	25.7%
14	Kankakee	93.6	53.7%	38.2%	25.5%	7.6%	25.8%
15	Worth	91.2	58.5%	30.0%	21.1%	8.5%	24.9%
16	Centralia	91.1	47.6%	36.1%	24.3%	11.2%	19.2%
17	Danville	91.0	49.9%	39.3%	24.5%	8.3%	22.1%
18	Champaign	89.0	57.0%	36.3%	25.9%	4.8%	24.0%
19	Lincolnwood	88.9	68.7%	11.0%	6.3%	7.8%	38.3%
20	Hazel Crest	88.7	34.7%	21.7%	24.0%	14.3%	23.2%
21	Richton Park	88.2	60.3%	25.7%	8.8%	11.9%	24.1%
22	Rockford	88.0	53.7%	33.2%	21.3%	8.5%	21.6%
23	Charleston	86.1	49.8%	39.1%	26.3%	6.1%	19.9%
24	Park Forest	85.1	48.1%	26.0%	17.6%	8.7%	26.8%
25	Justice	84.0	52.2%	27.1%	19.4%	6.7%	26.2%
26	Kewanee	83.3	51.0%	34.9%	17.9%	8.9%	18.8%
27	Country Club Hills	83.0	58.2%	20.1%	10.1%	9.2%	27.3%
28	Alton	82.9	54.1%	34.4%	21.0%	5.4%	22.3%
29	Midlothian	82.5	82.2%	24.6%	9.8%	5.3%	21.4%
30	Peoria	81.9	50.0%	32.0%	21.0%	7.5%	20.3%
31	Zion	79.0	54.7%	28.8%	16.0%	6.7%	22.6%
32	Galesburg	78.6	54.5%	36.5%	19.1%	5.0%	19.9%
33	Maywood	78.5	56.1%	26.2%	15.5%	7.7%	21.1%
34	Rock Island	76.4	54.3%	31.2%	21.0%	6.3%	17.1%
35	Chicago	76.2	48.3%	25.3%	16.8%	8.0%	22.2%
36	Decatur	76.1	41.9%	31.5%	19.4%	8.3%	19.7%
37	Lansing	75.5	52.1%	21.6%	14.0%	9.8%	20.1%
38	Normal	73.7	58.5%	31.9%	21.4%	3.9%	17.9%
39	Crestwood	73.6	51.5%	26.0%	13.0%	8.2%	21.1%
40	Alsip	73.4	51.3%	25.6%	12.1%	8.9%	20.5%
41	West Chicago	73.0	61.1%	17.7%	13.0%	9.5%	17.6%
42	Round Lake Beach	72.1	57.6%	17.8%	14.8%	7.6%	21.5%
43	Bridgeview	72.0	56.1%	22.5%	12.8%	7.6%	21.2%
44	Summit	71.5	57.6%	29.5%	11.2%	5.5%	22.1%
45	Canton	71.1	50.8%	32.7%	15.2%	7.2%	17.3%
46	Burr Ridge	70.6	82.2%	14.5%	3.9%	3.4%	26.8%
47	Streator	70.5	40.1%	31.4%	20.3%	7.9%	17.7%
48	Matteson	69.7	51.1%	18.0%	9.7%	10.9%	19.9%
49	Chicago Ridge	69.3	45.4%	24.8%	20.4%	5.5%	22.7%
50	Mount Vernon	69.0	45.6%	31.3%	17.3%	6.3%	19.7%
51	Burbank	68.0	60.6%	20.1%	12.9%	7.1%	18.9%
52	Herrin	65.3	51.1%	27.3%	14.5%	5.9%	20.0%
53	River Forest	65.0	88.9%	12.8%	2.7%	8.1%	12.7%
54	Mattoon	64.8	36.0%	34.8%	21.3%	6.5%	17.2%
55	Dixon	64.5	49.0%	30.0%	17.8%	5.2%	18.4%
56	Springfield	64.3	47.9%	27.0%	16.8%	6.8%	17.7%
57	Freeport	63.7	44.8%	33.6%	19.6%	4.5%	18.4%
58	Belleville	62.6	49.3%	26.9%	14.6%	6.1%	19.2%
59	Ottawa	62.5	48.7%	27.7%	17.3%	6.9%	15.5%
60	Bellwood	62.0	58.9%	19.9%	11.7%	6.3%	19.5%
61	Waukegan	61.9	49.0%	22.6%	15.3%	6.4%	20.1%
62	Fox Lake	61.7	63.7%	25.4%	13.1%	4.2%	17.7%
63	Berwyn	60.4	55.1%	22.4%	10.9%	6.9%	18.6%
64	Evanston	59.9	53.1%	18.8%	11.8%	6.2%	21.9%
65	Homewood	59.2	63.2%	16.1%	9.4%	8.1%	16.0%
66	Lyons	58.7	50.7%	27.3%	14.0%	4.6%	20.2%
67	Belvidere	58.5	46.4%	24.1%	14.6%	7.0%	18.4%
68	Marion	58.2	52.3%	32.5%	13.3%	3.5%	19.4%
69	Rantoul	57.9	45.1%	30.3%	16.9%	3.2%	21.9%
70	Loves Park	57.4	40.4%	25.3%	14.4%	6.3%	21.7%
71	Norridge	56.8	51.6%	20.2%	7.9%	8.0%	19.6%
72	Crest Hill	56.3	47.3%	19.0%	12.0%	5.5%	24.3%
73	Moline	56.0	46.0%	26.4%	15.5%	6.8%	16.0%
74	Pingree Grove	54.7	55.6%	6.5%	1.2%	3.7%	36.8%
75	Quincy	54.0	42.3%	31.1%	16.7%	4.7%	17.8%
76	Niles	53.9	49.2%	20.6%	8.5%	6.7%	21.3%
77	Lincoln	53.4	51.3%	30.2%	17.0%	2.9%	17.3%
78	East Moline	53.1	48.1%	27.8%	19.8%	3.4%	16.9%
79	Skokie	52.8	59.0%	18.3%	9.7%	5.2%	19.5%
80	Palos Hills	52.7	62.6%	23.8%	8.4%	4.1%	18.2%
81	Palos Heights	52.4	62.2%	10.3%	5.2%	3.6%	28.2%
82	Beach Park	52.1	54.3%	14.5%	8.5%	8.4%	17.6%
83	Sterling	50.5	45.3%	30.2%	15.3%	3.8%	18.0%
84	Granite City	50.0	42.9%	27.1%	14.8%	5.7%	16.9%
85	Gages Lake	49.4	49.1%	12.4%	7.0%	9.0%	19.7%
86	Cicero	49.2	47.2%	20.4%	14.6%	5.0%	19.5%
87	Glendale Heights	48.9	45.9%	18.1%	10.3%	6.0%	22.0%
88	Shorewood	48.1	72.0%	12.1%	5.2%	6.6%	14.5%
89	Hickory Hills	47.5	48.5%	20.9%	11.4%	6.1%	17.8%
90	Forest Park	47.1	47.4%	21.0%	11.6%	4.5%	21.2%
91	Melrose Park	46.8	43.0%	18.7%	12.3%	5.7%	21.3%
92	Wheeling	45.9	46.3%	17.4%	10.0%	4.8%	23.4%
93	East Peoria	45.8	60.5%	24.7%	11.8%	3.3%	14.8%
94	Streamwood	44.9	59.8%	13.1%	10.2%	3.4%	21.4%
95	Oak Lawn	44.7	48.7%	20.7%	9.6%	5.4%	19.1%
96	Hanover Park	44.2	47.8%	15.2%	12.5%	5.0%	20.8%
97	Lombard	44.2	54.4%	13.7%	7.2%	4.4%	23.3%
98	Bolingbrook	44.1	55.7%	12.1%	9.2%	5.7%	19.4%
99	Westmont	44.0	49.8%	20.9%	9.8%	4.0%	20.9%
100	Taylorville	43.8	43.3%	32.7%	12.4%	3.5%	17.3%
101	Romeoville	43.7	61.7%	10.4%	5.5%	5.0%	21.3%
102	Round Lake	43.5	55.5%	12.8%	9.0%	6.1%	18.3%
103	Machesney Park	43.0	43.0%	15.2%	13.7%	7.1%	17.5%
104	Joliet	42.9	52.2%	18.4%	11.1%	5.5%	16.6%
105	Collinsville	41.8	44.1%	23.6%	12.0%	4.7%	18.4%
106	Edwardsville	41.5	49.0%	20.3%	11.6%	4.6%	18.1%
107	Elgin	41.2	49.0%	16.4%	9.8%	6.1%	18.1%
108	Elk Grove Village	41.1	54.9%	16.6%	7.9%	4.1%	20.6%
109	Orland Park	40.6	58.1%	17.1%	7.3%	4.8%	17.5%
110	Pekin	40.1	37.9%	25.3%	12.8%	6.1%	16.2%
111	Aurora	39.3	45.7%	14.2%	9.5%	5.8%	20.5%
112	Northlake	39.0	46.7%	20.8%	10.9%	5.6%	16.1%
113	Huntley	38.8	44.8%	22.1%	8.6%	3.6%	22.0%
114	Morton Grove	38.5	50.1%	12.4%	7.3%	4.4%	23.4%
115	Franklin Park	38.2	44.2%	19.7%	9.4%	6.1%	17.4%
116	Pontiac	38.1	38.5%	29.6%	13.1%	4.2%	16.5%
117	Wood River	37.8	46.6%	23.0%	13.9%	2.9%	17.9%
118	Homer Glen	37.5	71.1%	8.9%	4.3%	4.6%	16.3%
119	Warrenville	37.1	45.5%	13.4%	11.3%	3.7%	23.0%
120	Carpentersville	36.7	43.3%	14.5%	10.3%	5.9%	19.5%
121	Plano	36.6	42.7%	11.5%	10.2%	4.8%	23.5%
122	Cary	36.3	66.9%	11.4%	4.8%	5.0%	15.2%
123	Jacksonville	34.9	32.2%	28.4%	18.5%	5.1%	13.0%
124	Palatine	34.7	53.3%	14.6%	8.2%	4.1%	19.0%
125	Bourbonnais	32.9	39.5%	16.9%	9.5%	6.1%	18.6%
126	River Grove	32.9	35.4%	21.6%	6.2%	5.9%	20.9%
127	St. Charles	31.1	59.1%	10.7%	4.4%	4.1%	19.1%
128	Woodstock	30.9	55.8%	17.7%	6.0%	3.3%	17.6%
129	Antioch	30.7	43.4%	16.8%	7.9%	8.2%	12.4%
130	Bensenville	30.2	38.1%	14.9%	7.6%	5.6%	21.2%
131	Bradley	30.0	46.2%	18.2%	7.7%	2.9%	21.1%
132	Yorkville	29.5	64.6%	8.7%	3.3%	3.6%	18.4%
133	McHenry	29.4	50.8%	13.4%	4.7%	3.6%	21.6%
134	Elmwood Park	29.1	41.4%	16.5%	8.0%	5.9%	17.4%
135	Lockport	28.8	54.6%	12.3%	6.8%	4.7%	16.3%
136	Mount Prospect	28.2	50.7%	16.8%	6.6%	3.8%	17.7%
137	Tinley Park	28.1	48.7%	13.0%	5.0%	6.0%	17.1%
138	Rolling Meadows	28.0	44.2%	15.9%	8.5%	3.9%	19.6%
139	Oswego	27.9	71.8%	6.3%	2.6%	2.6%	18.0%
140	Evergreen Park	27.8	48.4%	13.4%	4.0%	5.9%	17.8%
141	Bloomingdale	27.1	48.1%	14.6%	5.5%	4.6%	18.7%
142	Glenview	27.0	56.5%	12.2%	6.0%	3.4%	18.0%
143	Hoffman Estates	27.0	49.2%	11.2%	7.1%	4.2%	19.5%
144	Downers Grove	26.5	51.8%	15.9%	5.5%	4.0%	17.3%
145	Fairview Heights	26.4	34.1%	18.0%	8.8%	6.4%	17.4%
146	Oak Forest	26.3	46.4%	13.7%	6.5%	5.4%	17.3%
147	Gurnee	26.1	53.8%	12.2%	5.2%	4.8%	16.6%
148	Oak Park	26.0	43.5%	14.4%	7.4%	5.6%	17.2%
149	Grayslake	25.0	50.2%	12.6%	6.3%	5.4%	15.6%
150	Godfrey	24.5	52.8%	15.0%	6.4%	4.6%	14.6%
151	Schiller Park	24.1	46.8%	17.8%	2.5%	3.4%	21.0%
152	Roscoe	24.1	47.2%	17.8%	5.5%	3.5%	18.5%
153	Morris	23.0	42.7%	22.2%	7.7%	2.9%	17.7%
154	Wood Dale	23.0	41.5%	11.5%	6.7%	4.0%	22.0%
155	Crystal Lake	22.2	51.6%	11.8%	6.8%	4.2%	16.2%
156	Lake in the Hills	21.4	50.2%	6.7%	4.1%	5.9%	17.3%
157	Swansea	21.1	37.7%	17.4%	8.7%	5.7%	14.9%
158	Woodridge	21.0	49.0%	11.4%	5.5%	4.2%	17.8%
159	Bloomington	20.8	38.4%	22.9%	11.0%	2.7%	16.3%
160	Schaumburg	20.4	39.3%	13.7%	5.7%	3.5%	22.3%
161	Glen Ellyn	20.2	51.8%	13.6%	6.3%	5.3%	12.2%
162	Roselle	20.1	39.5%	10.8%	4.1%	6.8%	17.7%
163	Vernon Hills	19.8	48.8%	11.5%	6.1%	3.2%	18.7%
164	Prospect Heights	19.7	34.1%	18.3%	7.3%	3.5%	20.8%
165	Darien	19.7	46.9%	10.3%	4.2%	3.9%	20.0%
166	Highland Park	19.5	60.2%	13.0%	4.2%	3.2%	13.7%
167	North Aurora	19.3	42.3%	13.2%	6.3%	5.5%	15.8%
168	Des Plaines	19.1	38.7%	14.8%	6.0%	4.1%	19.7%
169	Batavia	18.9	61.4%	12.7%	5.5%	2.5%	13.5%
170	Westchester	18.5	31.6%	13.7%	5.0%	5.2%	21.8%
171	Northbrook	18.2	50.8%	10.6%	4.3%	3.2%	18.7%
172	Minooka	18.0	57.8%	7.2%	2.6%	4.2%	16.1%
173	South Elgin	17.9	52.9%	12.2%	6.4%	3.1%	15.5%
174	Addison	17.4	36.5%	15.3%	8.7%	4.7%	16.5%
175	Deerfield	17.3	60.9%	8.6%	2.8%	2.7%	16.4%
176	Carol Stream	16.5	41.2%	13.5%	6.4%	3.9%	17.9%
177	Montgomery	16.4	36.4%	9.4%	6.7%	3.4%	23.0%
178	O'Fallon	16.4	47.0%	14.6%	6.2%	3.7%	15.1%
179	La Grange Park	15.9	56.3%	10.1%	4.9%	3.3%	14.4%
180	Wheaton	15.7	44.0%	11.8%	5.6%	3.7%	18.0%
181	Effingham	15.5	33.6%	25.6%	14.6%	2.6%	12.0%
182	Lisle	13.8	38.2%	11.7%	5.9%	4.2%	18.5%
183	Arlington Heights	13.6	40.1%	13.0%	6.0%	3.5%	18.1%
184	Mundelein	13.5	44.9%	10.6%	8.2%	2.6%	17.3%
185	Elmhurst	11.8	47.7%	8.8%	3.3%	4.3%	15.8%
186	Villa Park	11.5	36.7%	10.4%	4.7%	4.7%	18.2%
187	Bartlett	11.1	50.9%	8.3%	4.2%	2.6%	17.0%
188	Channahon	10.7	27.6%	7.4%	5.9%	7.4%	17.2%
189	Plainfield	9.9	43.6%	7.4%	4.2%	3.8%	17.7%
190	Brookfield	9.7	42.5%	13.1%	5.4%	3.3%	15.4%
191	Winfield	9.5	46.2%	7.3%	3.2%	5.6%	13.2%
192	Buffalo Grove	9.5	34.8%	13.0%	7.2%	2.7%	18.9%
193	Lindenhurst	9.3	33.2%	7.8%	4.1%	6.7%	16.1%
194	Lemont	9.3	51.9%	8.9%	3.1%	4.5%	11.8%
195	Algonquin	8.9	45.4%	7.2%	4.1%	4.1%	15.4%
196	Lake Zurich	8.8	44.2%	9.9%	3.4%	3.2%	16.8%
197	Sycamore	8.5	32.5%	15.8%	8.1%	3.0%	16.3%
198	Frankfort	8.4	40.5%	4.8%	3.2%	4.1%	19.0%
199	Glen Carbon	8.1	40.4%	12.1%	4.9%	4.4%	13.5%
200	Waterloo	7.8	48.0%	16.8%	5.9%	2.3%	10.8%
201	Highland	7.4	43.7%	22.0%	6.0%	1.0%	12.4%
202	Columbia	7.3	50.4%	14.1%	5.4%	1.4%	12.6%
203	Naperville	7.2	39.5%	9.0%	4.4%	4.5%	14.6%
204	Mahomet	7.0	44.9%	9.3%	3.8%	3.5%	14.1%
205	Park Ridge	6.9	44.0%	10.8%	2.9%	4.2%	12.9%
206	Wilmette	6.6	45.7%	9.4%	3.2%	4.2%	12.4%
207	Geneva	6.5	51.1%	8.5%	3.8%	1.8%	14.7%
208	Libertyville	6.4	51.3%	8.7%	4.2%	2.9%	11.9%
209	Wauconda	6.3	31.0%	10.9%	6.2%	4.9%	14.8%
210	Morton	5.9	35.5%	16.0%	6.5%	2.8%	13.7%
211	Manhattan	5.4	54.9%	10.2%	4.2%	1.5%	11.3%
212	Washington	5.3	44.9%	13.5%	5.1%	1.0%	14.6%
213	New Lenox	5.2	53.1%	7.4%	1.5%	2.9%	12.2%
214	Winnetka	4.3	56.8%	6.4%	1.6%	3.4%	8.8%
215	La Grange	2.8	40.1%	7.5%	4.6%	2.2%	13.9%
216	Shiloh	2.6	30.0%	14.4%	6.8%	1.7%	14.3%
217	Hinsdale	2.5	46.7%	7.8%	2.9%	3.2%	9.2%
218	Barrington	2.3	34.0%	12.4%	4.6%	2.8%	12.2%
219	Mokena	1.8	29.2%	9.8%	4.5%	4.1%	12.1%
220	Chatham	1.8	29.5%	9.2%	3.3%	3.6%	14.1%
221	Campton Hills	1.2	33.3%	5.4%	2.9%	5.0%	10.0%
222	Lake Forest	0.5	38.8%	6.5%	3.5%	1.8%	9.3%
223	Troy	0.5	26.7%	9.3%	2.0%	3.1%	11.9%
224	Western Springs	0.4	36.1%	3.6%	1.3%	3.1%	10.5%

Score = national percentile (100 = more strain than every other ranked U.S. city). See the national ranking, or personal loans in Illinois.

Download the full dataset (CSV)

Methodology

The Cash Strain Index combines five measures of household financial pressure for every U.S. city with 10,000+ residents that has complete data (4,121 cities; college towns with a median age under 25 are excluded because student households distort income measures): the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent, the share of households earning under $35,000, the poverty rate, the unemployment rate, and median annual rent as a percentage of median household income. Each measure is standardized (z-score) across all ranked cities and the five are averaged with equal weight. The score shown is a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 means more strain than every other ranked city. The national list ranks cities with 100,000+ residents; state lists rank every city with 10,000+ residents.

Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25070, B19001, B17001, B23025, B25064, B19013). ACS estimates carry margins of error, so small differences between neighboring ranks are not meaningful.

Use this data

Journalists, researchers and bloggers may use these rankings and the CSV with credit and a link to this page (“Zebra Finance Cash Strain Index 2026”). Questions or a custom cut for your city: support@zebrafinance.com.