Yes. Illinois imposes a state real estate transfer tax under 35 ILCS 200/31-10 of $0.50 per $500 of value (i.e., transfer stamps at $1 per $1,000, roughly 0.10% of sale price). On top of the state tax, every Illinois county imposes its own transfer tax of $0.25 per $500 (about 0.05%), collected via a county revenue stamp. Home-rule municipalities may layer on an additional local transfer tax; rates and buyer/seller allocation vary widely by city. Illinois has no statewide "mansion tax" or graduated-rate structure — the state and county rates are flat regardless of price.
Buyer closing costs typically run roughly 2%-5% of the purchase price (loan fees, title insurance, recording, prepaids/escrows, inspections). Seller closing costs are considerably higher when real estate commissions are included — commonly cited around 8%-10% of sale price in Illinois-specific guides (this includes ~5-6% commission plus transfer taxes, title/attorney fees, and prorated property taxes). Excluding commission, seller-side closing costs alone are usually cited around 2-3% of sale price.
Who typically pays: Local convention in Illinois: the SELLER customarily pays the state ($0.50/$500) and county ($0.25/$500) transfer taxes, and this is typically written into standard Illinois real estate contracts. Sellers also traditionally cover attorney review fees, title insurance (owner's policy), recording fees for releases, and prorated property taxes owed through closing. Buyers typically pay their own attorney fees, lender/loan-related fees, buyer's title insurance (lender's policy), recording fees for the deed/mortgage, and prepaid escrow items. Chicago is a notable, well-documented exception to the seller-pays norm: the Chicago Real Property Transfer Tax (Municipal Code Chapter 3-33) is split — the seller pays a portion (historically $1.50 per $500, ~0.30%) and the buyer pays a larger portion ($3.75 per $500, ~0.75%), for a combined city rate of $5.25 per $500 (~1.05%) on top of the state and Cook County stamps, bringing the all-in Chicago composite rate to roughly $6.00 per $500 (~1.2% of price) when state, county, and city stamps are combined.
Key variation: Chicago's transfer tax is uniquely split between buyer and seller rather than being seller-paid like the state/county stamps, and at ~1.05% city-level it is far higher than most Illinois municipalities. A proposed graduated "mansion tax" restructuring of Chicago's transfer tax (Bring Chicago Home referendum, higher rates on properties over $1M) was rejected by Chicago voters in March 2024, so Chicago's transfer tax remains a flat rate as of 2026. Other home-rule Illinois municipalities (e.g., some Cook County suburbs, Evanston, Oak Park) may impose their own separate local transfer taxes with varying rates and buyer/seller splits — these should be checked at the municipal level for any specific property. Figures above are corroborated across multiple current (2026-dated) secondary sources (ListWithClever, AskDoss, TransferDuty, ATG Fund/attorneys' title company, Chicago Association of Realtors, Civic Federation) citing the underlying statute 35 ILCS 200/31-10 and Chicago Municipal Code Ch. 3-33; direct confirmation from tax.illinois.gov's page acknowledged the statute but did not display the numeric rate in fetched text, and chicago.gov's official transfer tax page returned a 403 Forbidden on direct fetch, so figures rely on the convergence of secondary/professional sources rather than a single primary-source page render.
Facts on this page reflect research current as of 2026-07-05. Programs, rates, and laws change — confirm current figures with the relevant state agency before relying on them.