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Why people love it

More small apartment buildings than any municipality in Cook County outside Chicago. 5,131 of them.

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What's drawing people

Pink Line runs to Cicero and the Metra BNSF stops here. Downtown is under half an hour.

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The value

Up 334% since 2013 to about $348,000, on 289 or more sales a window. The deepest suburban market I track.

What people say about Cicero

Cicero has 5,131 parcels classed as 2-to-6 unit buildings, more than any Cook County municipality outside Chicago. — Cook County Assessor
Those buildings went from about $80,000 in 2013 to about $348,000 in 2025, roughly 334%. — Cook County Assessor
Two-bedroom rents sit near $1,350, though down 10% over the year. — Zumper

If you want to own small apartment buildings and you are willing to leave the city limits, Cicero has more of them than anywhere else. That is not close.

Cicero sits directly west of Little Village across the city line, and it is built the same way: block after block of brick two-flats, three-flats and cottages, put up for workers at the Hawthorne Works and the industry that surrounded it.

The county counts 5,131 parcels classed as 2-to-6 unit buildings here. For scale, Berwyn next door has 3,025 and Oak Park has 1,036. If inventory is what you need, this is where it is.

The Pink Line terminates at 54th and Cermak inside Cicero, and the Metra BNSF line stops here too, which puts downtown under half an hour by either.

County records put the median 2-to-4 unit sale at roughly $80,000 in 2013 and about $348,000 in 2025, up around 334%, or 13% a year, on 289 or more sales per rolling window. That is a deep, liquid market by suburban standards.

The rent picture needs care. Two-bedrooms at about $1,350 are down 10% over the year and three-bedrooms at $2,250 are down 6%, while the overall median is up 5%. Mixed signals on a small listing sample, so I would underwrite conservatively rather than assuming rent growth.

Cicero also has a long and complicated municipal history that affects permitting and inspections in ways that matter to an owner. That is a real cost of doing business here and worth understanding before you close, not after.

Last updated August 2026.