Engine-derived ROI data from 5 representative Chicago-area properties. Methodology transparent below. CC-BY 4.0, journalists, CPAs, and researchers may cite this dataset with attribution.
Important framing: These are engine outputs for representative fixture scenarios, not predictions about any specific property. The cost segregation engine takes real property data (address, year built, square footage, renovation history, assessor records) and produces a study tailored to your actual property. The aggregate numbers shown here describe the Chicago market's general profile; your specific results will reflect your specific property.
Each fixture was run through the Cost Seg Smart engine, the same engine that produces real customer studies. Numbers below are reproducible from cities/chicago.json via scripts/run_city_stats.py.
| Property | Neighborhood | Price | Basis | Land % | 5-yr | 15-yr | Reclass % | Y1 fed savings @ 37% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Park SFR Flip SFR · Built 1908 |
Lincoln Park / Bucktown / Wicker Park | $685,000 | $503,338 | 26.5% | $44,233 | $36,093 | 16.0% | $29,720 |
| Logan Square Two-Flat Investor DUPLEX · Built 1922 |
Logan Square / Avondale | $545,000 | $418,778 | 23.2% | $42,323 | $30,567 | 17.4% | $26,969 |
| Pilsen Three-Flat BRRRR TRIPLEX · Built 1898 |
Pilsen / Bridgeport (Lower West Side) | $425,000 | $320,195 | 24.7% | $36,340 | $20,108 | 17.6% | $20,886 |
| South Loop Condo Rental CONDO · Built 2014 |
South Loop / West Loop (downtown-adjacent condo) | $685,000 | $349,889 | 48.9% | $38,381 | $3,428 | 11.9% | $15,469 |
| Oak Park Suburban SFR LTR SFR · Built 1925 |
Oak Park / Evanston (suburban Cook County) | $485,000 | $373,159 | 23.1% | $31,321 | $27,829 | 15.8% | $21,886 |
| Engine property type | Fixtures | Median reclass % | Min | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFR | 2 | 15.9% | 15.8% | 16.0% |
| DUPLEX | 1 | 17.4% | 17.4% | 17.4% |
| TRIPLEX | 1 | 17.6% | 17.6% | 17.6% |
| CONDO | 1 | 11.9% | 11.9% | 11.9% |
"STR" denotes residential property operating as a short-term rental, the engine applies an FF&E density uplift not captured in the LTR (long-term rental) treatment.
| Neighborhood | Typical value | Typical land allocation | Profile note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Park / Bucktown / Wicker Park | $685,000 | ~30% | Pre-war 1890s–1920s SFR and two-flat stock heavily renovated. Higher land allocation due to neighborhood-scarcity premium. Mix of fix-and-flip and small-MF investor activity. |
| Logan Square / Avondale | $545,000 | ~26% | Two-flat, three-flat, and small-multifamily dominant. Mid-tier land allocation. Active small-MF investor market with heavy post-2010 renovation activity. |
| Pilsen / Bridgeport (Lower West Side) | $425,000 | ~22% | 1890s-1920s small-MF and SFR stock. Lower-cost entry point. Strong fix-and-flip and BRRRR activity. Lower land allocation. |
| South Loop / West Loop (downtown-adjacent condo) | $685,000 | ~32% | Post-2010 mid-rise and high-rise condo dominant. Higher land allocation reflecting downtown-adjacent premium. New construction with cleaner reclassification ratios. |
| Oak Park / Evanston (suburban Cook County) | $485,000 | ~24% | Suburban Cook County SFR rental market. Strong year-round LTR cash flow. Mid-tier land allocation. Outside Chicago STR ordinance jurisdiction. |
The "typical land allocation" column reflects baseline patterns for each sub-market based on county assessor records and statistical modeling. For specific properties where reconstruction cost (RSMeans 2024 component build-up adjusted for time and geography) exceeds 2.0× the implied depreciable basis after subtracting the baseline land, the engine applies a premium land floor (~50%) to keep the study within audit-defensible territory. This typically affects ultra-premium resort inventory (ski-in/ski-out, beachfront, view-premium properties), where land scarcity premium dominates the purchase price. The per-fixture table above shows the actual land_source used by the engine for each fixture, values of statistical_premium_floor indicate the premium-floor mechanism was applied.
The takeaway: typical neighborhood allocations describe the market baseline. Individual property results depend on specific reconstruction-cost-vs-purchase-price ratios, and ultra-premium product may show higher land allocation in the engine output than the neighborhood typical.
Illinois generally follows federal MACRS rules but is NOT fully conforming on federal §168(k) bonus depreciation. The Illinois Income Tax Act requires addition modifications for federal bonus depreciation, with subsequent subtraction modifications that recover the deduction over multiple Illinois tax years rather than concentrating it in Year 1. For 2025+ acquisitions under OBBBA's 100% federal bonus, the federal §168(k) acceleration captures cleanly in Year 1, but the Illinois-side benefit is spread across multiple years rather than fully accelerated. Verify current-year Illinois treatment with your CPA; IL bonus depreciation conformity has been adjusted multiple times in recent years and continues to evolve through 2026 legislation.
Decoupling: Illinois has historically required IL Schedule M addition modifications for federal bonus depreciation, with corresponding subtraction modifications recovering the deduction over future Illinois tax years. Model federal and Illinois treatment separately, they do not match year-by-year even when the total deduction is equivalent over the property's holding period.
State income tax structure: Flat single rate, but the Illinois Income Tax Act (35 ILCS 5/203) requires addition and subtraction modifications for federal bonus depreciation
Verify with your CPA. State tax conformity for federal §168(k) is adjusted frequently. Framing reflects our understanding as of May 2026, verify current-year treatment with a qualified tax professional.
Every figure on this page is reproducible. The pipeline:
cities/chicago.json under the engine_fixtures array, each with address, property type, purchase price, year built, square footage, and STR/LTR flag.scripts/run_city_stats.py instantiates a PropertyInput for each fixture and calls engine.run_study(), the same path that produces a real customer study.For full methodology details including QC validation, reconciliation logic, and audit-defense documentation, see costsegsmart.com/methodology.
This dataset is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may republish, remix, or extend this data for any purpose with attribution. Suggested citation format:
Cost Seg Smart Research Team. (2026). "Chicago, IL Cost Segregation Benchmarks 2026." Cost Seg Smart. 5 representative fixtures. Retrieved from https://chicagocostsegregation.com/data/chicago-cost-seg-stats/
For interview requests, additional data slices, or related questions: [email protected].