Illinois Mobile Home Park Market: 2026 Data and Outlook

Park count and lot count in Illinois

Illinois is home to approximately 830 mobile home parks containing roughly 85,000 lots — making it a significant MHP markets in the United States. The average park size is around 102 lots, skewed toward larger institutional-scale assets.

These figures are estimates compiled from US Census manufactured-housing data, MHI shipment reports, and state-level MHP industry surveys. The actual count fluctuates as new parks come online (slowly) and existing parks redevelop into other land uses (also slowly).

Lot rent levels in Illinois

Average lot rent in Illinois parks runs approximately $510 per month as of 2026. Illinois's lot rents are in line with the broader Midwest average — neither premium nor discount.

Operators benchmarking against the state average should keep in mind that lot rents vary widely by submarket within Illinois. Metro-area parks routinely run 30–60% above the state average; rural parks often sit 20–30% below. The state average is a starting point, not a price-setting input.

Cap rates and valuation in Illinois

Stabilized MHP cap rates in Illinois cluster between 7% and 8.5% as of 2026, placing the state in the tier2 tier of MHP markets nationally. Lower cap rates apply to larger, fully-stabilized, TOH-heavy assets in the strongest submarkets; higher cap rates apply to smaller, value-add, or POH-heavy parks.

Recent transactions in Illinois reflect the macro cap-rate stabilization that played out across MHP nationally in 2024-2025. Cap rate compression of the 2018-2021 era is over; the new normal is range-bound pricing with mild upward movement in higher-rate environments.

• Tier-1 stabilized
  7% – 7.75% — large, fully-stabilized, agency-financeable parks
• Tier-2 typical
  7.75% – 8.25% — mid-size or mixed POH/TOH portfolios
• Tier-3 value-add
  8.25% – 9.5% — smaller or under-occupied parks with infill upside

Regulatory environment in Illinois

Illinois has no MHP rent control as of 2026. Operators retain pricing flexibility, which is reflected in slightly tighter cap rates relative to comparable rent-controlled states. Watch for state legislative activity each session — proposals that haven't passed often return.

Beyond rent control, Illinois's Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Rights Act governs the broader MHP landlord-tenant relationship — notice periods, eviction procedures, lease requirements. Compliance is uniform across the state, so multi-park Illinois operators can run a single playbook rather than per-jurisdiction variance.

What to watch in 2026

Illinois's stable market means operational excellence drives returns more than market-timing. Watch for: vendor cost trends (insurance, taxes), labor costs for on-site managers, and submarket-level rent dynamics. Outperformance in stable markets comes from running a tighter operation than the average operator, not from market beta.