LIHTC in Illinois: 2026 allocations, QAP and data

Agency and qualified allocation plan

Agency and QAP links checked 2026-10-30.

2026 credit ceiling and bond cap

Sources: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 secs. 4.08 and 4.19 (the 9% amounts already include the 12% increase from Pub. L. 119-21 sec. 70422); IRS Notice 2026-22 (2026-15 I.R.B.). Computed by us and rounded to the dollar; agencies may round differently.

Only the population amount is shown. The full 2026 ceiling adds credits unused from 2025, credits returned by projects and any share of the national pool, which the agency reports in its allocation materials. See every state side by side on the 2026 ceilings and bond caps table.

Basis boost areas: 2027 QCTs and DDAs

HUD's 2027 lists, which apply from January 1, 2027, put 617 Illinois census tracts in qualified census tracts, spread across 53 counties. No nonmetropolitan county is a 2027 DDA. In metro areas, 82 ZIP code areas (ZCTAs) are Small Area DDAs. A building in either can take 130% of eligible basis. Check an address with the QCT and DDA lookup.

Metro areas with Small Area DDAs: Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL HUD Metro FMR Area; Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL MSA; DeKalb County, IL HUD Metro FMR Area; Kendall County, IL HUD Metro FMR Area; Rockford, IL MSA.

Every Illinois qualified census tract, with its population, poverty rate and median income, is on the Illinois QCT list by county.

Source: HUD 2027 QCT and DDA designations, FR Doc. 2026-20390 (91 FR 63573, Oct. 6, 2026).

Tax credit properties in Illinois

HUD's database lists 1,056 Illinois properties financed with housing tax credits that the allocating agency still monitors, with 79,767 income-restricted units. The largest city totals are below; see all cities on the Illinois apartments page.

For buyers and lenders: the Illinois Year 15 and Year 30 list shows which of these properties reach the end of the compliance period or the 30-year extended use minimum from 2022 to 2034, by county.

Source: HUD's national LIHTC database (LIHTCPUB, revised May 28, 2026; projects placed in service through 2024). City pages cover cities with at least five properties; county links go to that county's 2026 income and rent limits.

Financing a LIHTC deal in Illinois

A 9% deal in Illinois competes for IHDA's 2026 ceiling of $43,448,586 (population amount) under the 2026 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan. A 4% deal needs an award from the state's $1,717,084,035 private activity bond cap: tax-exempt bonds must finance 50% of the aggregate basis of the building and land, or at least 25% if one or more of those bonds, from an issue dated after December 31, 2025, together finance at least 5% of that basis (the 25% bond test, for buildings placed in service in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025). Sites in Illinois's 617 qualified census tracts for 2027 can take the 130% basis boost.

On HUD's records for the 705 Illinois properties on this site's city pages, 12% of those reporting the field were financed with tax-exempt bonds and 78% took 9% (70% present value) credits; 53 received allocations in 2015 or later.

Sources: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32; HUD 2027 QCT list; HUD's national LIHTC database (LIHTCPUB, revised May 28, 2026; projects placed in service through 2024), bond and credit-type fields. What to read in a QAP: state LIHTC programs. Sizing a Illinois deal: get a financing quote.

State housing tax credit

No state LIHTC found. No state LIHTC. The Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credit is a donation credit (50% of a qualified donation, transferable to the project); IHDA and Chicago administer it. (primary source)

More Illinois data

• Illinois 2026 income and rent limitsby county
• Illinois tax credit apartmentsby city
• Illinois QCTs and DDAs2027 lists by county
• Year 15 and Year 30 propertiesby county
• QCT and DDA lookupby address
• Monthly credit ratesIRS
• LIHTC in Idahoprevious
• LIHTC in Indiananext
• All statescompare