Illinois Sales Tax Calculator
Work out the sales tax on a purchase anywhere in Illinois. Combined rates for 56 cities, updated for the August 2026 transit tax increase that pushed Chicago to 10.50%, plus a reverse calculation for working backwards from a receipt.
Illinois Sales Tax Calculator
Rates as of August 1, 2026- Price before tax$0.00
- Combined rate0%
- State share 6.25% on general merchandise$0.00
- Local share 0%$0.00
- Total to pay$0.00
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority sales tax rose by a quarter of a point in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, taking Cook County's transit component to 1.25% and the collar counties' to 1.00%. Chicago moved from 10.25% to 10.50%. Rate tables published before August 2026 — including several widely cited ones — are a quarter of a point out of date for the whole six-county region.
How an Illinois sales tax rate is built
No single authority sets the rate you pay at the register. It is assembled from layers, and the layers explain why a rate can jump by two points when you drive across a county line.
| Layer | Rate | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| State retailers' occupation tax | 6.25% | Illinois General Assembly — 5.00% state, 1.00% to the municipality, 0.25% to the county |
| Chicago home rule tax | 1.25% | City of Chicago |
| Cook County home rule tax | 1.75% | Cook County |
| Northern Illinois Transit Authority | 1.25% | Regional transit levy, raised August 1, 2026 |
| Combined | 10.50% | What you actually pay |
Sales tax is the one Illinois tax that genuinely varies by address. Income tax does not — it is a flat 4.95% statewide, as the Illinois income tax rate guide explains, and there is no city wage tax even in Chicago. The structural driver here is home rule. A home-rule municipality — any Illinois town over 25,000 people, plus those that have voted for the status — may impose a sales tax in quarter-point increments with no statutory ceiling. A non-home-rule town is capped at 1% and needs a referendum. That single difference is why Cicero and Berwyn sit at 11.00% while Naperville sits at 8.00%.
Illinois sales tax rates by city
Combined general-merchandise rates, highest first. These are citywide base rates; a business district can add up to a further 1% at specific addresses, and multi-county municipalities can differ between their two halves. For a legally binding rate at an exact address, use the MyTax Illinois Tax Rate Finder.
| City | County | Combined rate | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calumet City | Cook | 11.25% | Home rule |
| Bartlett | Cook | 11.00% | Home rule |
| Berwyn | Cook | 11.00% | Home rule |
| Cicero | Cook | 11.00% | Home rule |
| Chicago | Cook | 10.50% | Home rule |
| Evanston | Cook | 10.50% | Home rule |
| Oak Lawn | Cook | 10.50% | Home rule |
| Orland Park | Cook | 10.50% | Home rule |
| Skokie | Cook | 10.50% | Home rule |
| Arlington Heights | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Buffalo Grove | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Des Plaines | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Elk Grove Village | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Hanover Park | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Hoffman Estates | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Mount Prospect | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Northbrook | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Oak Park | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Palatine | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Park Ridge | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Schaumburg | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Springfield | Sangamon | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Streamwood | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Tinley Park | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Wheeling | Cook | 10.25% | Home rule |
| Glenview | Cook | 10.00% | Home rule |
| Bloomington | McLean | 9.75% | Home rule |
| Normal | McLean | 9.75% | Home rule |
| Carpentersville | Kane | 9.25% | Home rule |
| Champaign | Champaign | 9.25% | Home rule |
| Danville | Vermilion | 9.25% | Home rule |
| Decatur | Macon | 9.25% | Home rule |
| Addison | DuPage | 9.00% | Home rule |
| Galesburg | Knox | 9.00% | Home rule |
| Joliet | Will | 9.00% | Home rule |
| Peoria | Peoria | 9.00% | Home rule |
| Urbana | Champaign | 9.00% | Home rule |
| Bolingbrook | Will | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Crystal Lake | McHenry | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Downers Grove | DuPage | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Elgin | Kane | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Elmhurst | DuPage | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Plainfield | Will | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Rockford | Winnebago | 8.75% | Non-home rule |
| Romeoville | Will | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Waukegan | Lake | 8.75% | Home rule |
| Aurora | Kane | 8.50% | Home rule |
| Moline | Rock Island | 8.50% | Home rule |
| Rock Island | Rock Island | 8.50% | Home rule |
| Wheaton | DuPage | 8.50% | Home rule |
| Carol Stream | DuPage | 8.25% | Home rule |
| Lombard | DuPage | 8.25% | Non-home rule |
| Belleville | St. Clair | 8.10% | Home rule |
| DeKalb | DeKalb | 8.00% | Home rule |
| Naperville | DuPage | 8.00% | Home rule |
| Quincy | Adams | 8.00% | Home rule |
The 2026 grocery tax change
This is the change most Illinois shoppers have heard about and most have misunderstood. On January 1, 2026 Illinois eliminated the 1% state tax on groceries. The same legislation, however, allowed municipalities and counties to adopt their own 1% grocery tax by ordinance, with no referendum required — a town simply had to file the ordinance with the Department of Revenue by October 1 for a January 1 start, or by April 1 for a July 1 start.
Hundreds did, in two waves. The practical result is that most Illinois shoppers, including everyone in Chicago and the great majority of its suburbs, still pay 1% on groceries. What changed is who receives it. Where a town declined to adopt the local tax, groceries are now genuinely untaxed.
| Category | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General merchandise | 6.25% + local | Clothing, electronics, furniture, restaurant meals |
| Qualifying groceries | 1% where adopted, otherwise 0% | Food for consumption off the premises; excludes candy, soft drinks, alcohol and hot prepared food |
| Prescription and non-prescription drugs | 1% | Statewide, unchanged |
| Qualifying medical appliances | 1% | Statewide, unchanged |
| Titled vehicles | Special rules | See the vehicle tax calculator |
Candy, soft drinks, alcohol and hot prepared food have never qualified for the reduced rate — they are general merchandise, taxed at the full combined rate. A rotisserie chicken and a bag of raw chicken breasts sitting in the same shopping cart are taxed differently.
Online and out-of-state purchases
Since the Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act took effect in 2021, remote retailers meeting the economic nexus thresholds — $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions into Illinois in a twelve-month period — and all marketplace facilitators must collect Illinois state and local tax at the destination address. Since January 1, 2025, out-of-state retailers with an Illinois physical presence also collect destination-based tax on goods shipped in from elsewhere.
Note the asymmetry: an in-state brick-and-mortar retailer is generally origin-sourced — the rate is set by where the sale takes place — while a remote seller is destination-sourced. Buy a sofa in a Naperville showroom and pay Naperville's 8.00%; order the same sofa online for delivery to Chicago and pay Chicago's 10.50%.
Where nothing was collected, the obligation falls to you as use tax, reported on Line 21 of Form IL-1040. It is the same 6.25% general rate. Under $600 of untaxed purchases the instructions let you use an AGI-based estimation table rather than reconstructing every receipt — the Illinois income tax calculator includes it as an option.
What Illinois does and does not tax
Illinois taxes tangible personal property and, since 2025, has broadened its reach over leases. What it largely leaves alone is services — a haircut, an accountant's fee, a plumber's labor and legal advice are not subject to Illinois sales tax, which puts the state at odds with a broadening national trend toward taxing services. Software delivered electronically occupies a gray area worth professional advice for a business; canned software on physical media is taxable, and Chicago separately applies its lease transaction tax to many cloud services.
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People also ask about Illinois sales tax
The state rate on general merchandise is 6.25%, but almost nobody pays only that. Municipal, county, transit-district and business-district taxes stack on top, producing combined rates from 6.25% in unincorporated areas with no local tax to 12.25% in the Calumet City business district. The statewide average sits near 8.9% once the August 2026 transit increase is counted. A separate 1% rate applies to prescription and non-prescription drugs and to qualifying medical appliances.
10.50% on general merchandise since August 1, 2026, up from 10.25%. The increase came from the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, whose sales tax rose a quarter of a point across Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties under Informational Bulletin FY 2026-34. Chicago's rate breaks down as 6.25% state, 1.25% city home rule, 1.75% Cook County, and 1.25% NITA. Many rate tables published earlier in 2026 still show the old 10.25% figure.
It depends on your town. Illinois eliminated the 1% state grocery tax on January 1, 2026, but the same legislation let municipalities and counties impose their own 1% grocery tax by ordinance with no referendum required. Hundreds did, including Chicago and most of its suburbs. So in practice most Illinois shoppers still pay 1% on groceries — it simply goes to the town now instead of the state. Where no local ordinance was passed, groceries are untaxed.
Multiply the pre-tax price by the combined rate for the location. A $200 purchase in Chicago at 10.50% carries $21.00 of tax, for a total of $221.00. Working backwards from a receipt total, divide by 1 plus the rate: a $221.00 total at 10.50% came from a $200.00 price. The calculator on this page does it both ways — switch the toggle to "this price includes tax" for the reverse calculation.
Four layers stacking. The 6.25% state rate is fairly ordinary; on top sit Chicago's own 1.25% home-rule tax, Cook County's 1.75% home-rule tax, and the 1.25% Northern Illinois Transit Authority levy that funds CTA, Metra and Pace. Home-rule municipalities face no statutory cap on their sales tax rate, which is the structural reason Illinois rates climb so high in Cook County. Neighboring Indiana charges 7.00% with no local add-on at all.
Yes. Under the Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act, remote retailers that make $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions into Illinois, and all marketplace facilitators, must collect state and local tax at the destination — the address the parcel goes to. Where a seller does not collect, you are legally required to self-assess Illinois use tax on Line 21 of Form IL-1040, at the same 6.25% general rate.
Sales tax is collected by the seller at the point of purchase. Use tax is the same tax paid directly by the buyer when the seller did not collect it — typically an out-of-state or online purchase. The rate is identical at 6.25% for general merchandise. Individuals report it on Line 21 of Form IL-1040, and where untaxed purchases total less than $600 the instructions allow an AGI-based estimation table instead of exact receipts.
Any unincorporated area with no municipal, county or transit tax pays only the 6.25% state rate. Among larger towns, Naperville, DeKalb and Quincy sit at 8.00%, and the DuPage County communities generally run two to two and a half points below Cook County because they escape both Cook's 1.75% home-rule tax and the higher Cook NITA rate. Crossing a county line inside the Chicago metro can change a rate by more than two points.
Sources
- IDOR Informational Bulletin FY 2026-34 — Northern Illinois Transit Authority rate change, August 1, 2026
- IDOR Bulletin FY 2026-03 — elimination of the state grocery tax
- IDOR — sales and use taxes
- IDOR — Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act
- MyTax Illinois — Tax Rate Finder
Rates change frequently and can differ within a single municipality where a business district applies. These figures are for planning; for a legally binding rate at a specific address, use the MyTax Illinois Tax Rate Finder or the Department of Revenue's machine-readable rate files. Not tax advice.