Average Rent in Joliet, IL: Census Medians and HUD Fair Market Rents

Two public data sets are the most common starting points for "what does rent cost in Joliet?": the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Fair Market Rents. They answer different questions, so they produce different numbers. This guide lays out both for Joliet and the six suburbs JolietRent covers, then explains why they don't match.

Median gross rent by town (Census ACS)

The figures below are from ACS Table B25064, Median Gross Rent, 2020-2024 5-year estimates, the most recent 5-year release available as of November 2026. Each estimate comes with a margin of error (MOE); the Census Bureau publishes these at a 90 percent confidence level.

Smaller places have fewer renter households in the survey sample, so their margins of error are wider. Shorewood's ±$398 means its estimate should be read as a broad range, not a precise figure.

Median gross rent by number of bedrooms

ACS Table B25031 breaks the median down by bedroom count. A dash means the Census Bureau did not publish an estimate because there were too few sample cases.

Some of these cells rest on small samples. For example, Joliet's 5+ bedroom median has a margin of error of ±$614 and Shorewood's 2-bedroom median has a margin of error of ±$1,313, according to the same table. Where one bedroom size appears to cost less than a smaller one (such as Joliet's studio and 1-bedroom figures), the gap is within the margins of error and reflects sampling, not a rule about the market.

What "gross rent" means

The Census Bureau defines gross rent as contract rent plus the estimated monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, water and sewer) and fuels, when the renter pays them or someone pays them on the renter's behalf. The point is to put a unit with utilities included on the same footing as one where the tenant pays them separately. Units occupied without paying rent are left out of the median.

So the ACS median is closer to "total monthly housing cost for a renter" than to the number you see on a listing.

HUD Fair Market Rents (FY 2027)

HUD publishes Fair Market Rents (FMRs) every year. Under 24 CFR 888.113 they are estimates of 40th-percentile gross rents for standard-quality units in a metro area. HUD uses them to set voucher payment standards and rent limits for several housing programs. FMRs must be posted at least 30 days before they take effect at the start of the federal fiscal year, generally October 1, so the FY 2027 figures are the ones in effect in November 2026.

Will County is part of the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL HUD Metro FMR Area, which also includes Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

HUD treats Kendall County as its own FMR area. That matters for any rental address located in Kendall County, so confirm the county before using a figure.

Small Area FMRs by ZIP code

HUD's FY 2027 documentation states that all Housing Choice Voucher programs in the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville HMFA use Small Area FMRs, which are set by ZIP code. Here are the FY 2027 Small Area FMRs for ZIP codes in and around Joliet and the six suburbs. ZIP codes don't follow city limits, so look up your own ZIP rather than assuming a town name.

A Fair Market Rent is not the same as a voucher payment standard. Each housing authority sets its own payment standards based on these figures; see our Housing Authority of Joliet guide.

Why the Census and HUD numbers differ

The 2-bedroom figures make the gap easy to see: $1,312 for Joliet in the ACS versus $2,011 for the metro FMR and $1,770 to $1,950 for ZIP codes 60431, 60432, 60433, 60435 and 60436 in the Small Area FMR table. Several differences in method explain it, all described in HUD's FY 2027 methodology narrative and the Census definition above:

• Time period. The ACS 5-year estimate pools surveys taken from 2020 through 2024. HUD starts from the same 2020-2024 ACS data but then adjusts it with more recent 1-year ACS data and rent-inflation measures before it takes effect for the fiscal year that began October 1, 2026.
• Who is counted. The ACS median includes every renter household, including people who have lived in the same unit for many years and may pay below current market rates. HUD applies a "recent mover" adjustment that compares rents paid by households that moved recently with all renters.
• Percentile. The ACS reports the median (50th percentile). The FMR is set at the 40th percentile.
• Geography. The ACS figures above are for each city or village. The metro FMR covers six counties, including Cook and DuPage, and the Small Area FMRs follow ZIP code lines.
• Unit quality. HUD's base rent uses "standard quality" units, which excludes some units the ACS counts.

Neither number is an asking rent. Neither tells you what a specific apartment will cost today.

Asking rents on JolietRent

As listings accumulate on JolietRent, we will add asking-rent figures drawn from the listings posted here, labeled with the date range and number of listings they're based on. Until there are enough listings to report a figure responsibly, the Census and HUD numbers on this page are the sourced benchmarks we can offer. You can browse current Joliet rentals to see what landlords are asking now.