Algonquin · McHenry County · IL
Homes for sale in
Algonquin.
- Active listings
- 60
- Median list
- $508K
- Avg time on market
- 9 days
- Sold · last year
- 494
Photo: RSchulenburg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Active listings
60 homes on the market
About the community
Living in Algonquin.
Algonquin sits on the Fox River at the McHenry / Kane county line, with the I-90 / Randall Road interchange ~5 minutes south of the village. Native Potawatomi inhabited the site for centuries before settler Samuel Edwards suggested the name "Algonquin" in 1847. The Fox River and the 1907 Stratton Lock & Dam upstream made Algonquin a navigation point; in the 20th century it was a Chicago vacation enclave with Fox River summer cottages. Modern Algonquin is the southern McHenry growth engine, 30,000 residents, the 600,000-sq-ft Algonquin Commons lifestyle center on Randall Road, and the 1,000-acre Algonquin Corporate Campus under development on the southwest side.
At a glance
~30,000 residents
Multi-county footprint: ~78% McHenry, ~22% Kane. Density around 2,450 per square mile.
I-90 + Randall Road
The corridor's most direct interstate access. ~38 minutes to O'Hare, ~24 minutes to Schaumburg.
D300 (Community Unit School District 300)
Algonquin's main district. ~23,000 students across 118 sq mi; 6th-largest district in Illinois. Jacobs HS sits in Algonquin.
Algonquin Commons
600,000 sq ft outdoor lifestyle center on Randall Road. Trader Joe's, Fresh Market, Nordstrom Rack, Pottery Barn, Ulta.
Fox River frontage
Algonquin Dam holds the river level for navigation north to the Chain O'Lakes. Riverfront, Towne, and Cornish Parks all border the water.
No Metra in town
Closest stations are Crystal Lake, Pingree Road, Cary, and Fox River Grove on UP-NW. Pace Route 550 runs along Randall to the Elgin Metra station.
Two-county tax footprint
Property tax rate runs ~2.66% on the McHenry side and ~2.60% on the Kane side. Sales tax baseline is 8.00%.
Golf Club of Illinois
Championship course off Randall and County Line Roads, on the village's south side.
What’s close
Algonquin runs north-south along the Fox River, with Randall Road as the dominant retail spine on the west side. Old Town sits at Main Street (Route 31) and the river. The Algonquin Commons / Spring Hill Mall area is the regional retail destination.
- Algonquin Commons
- 600K sq ft outdoor lifestyle center at 1900 S. Randall Road. ~50 retailers and restaurants, the largest outdoor mall in Illinois.
- Old Town district
- Compact historic downtown along Main Street / Route 31 near the Fox River. Historic Village Hall (1907) at 2 S. Main Street.
- Riverfront, Towne, and Cornish Parks
- Three connected downtown parks along the Fox River. Home to Founders' Days festival and the Summer Concert series.
- Algonquin Lakes
- Natural and manmade lake chain with trails inside the Algonquin Lakes neighborhood on the village's east side.
- Fox River / Prairie Trail
- 26-mile sub-section of the Grand Illinois Trail runs through Algonquin.
- Schools
- D300 elementary + middle, Jacobs HS in Algonquin, Dundee-Crown HS in Carpentersville for east-side addresses. Boundaries don't follow the county line cleanly.
What it’s actually like to live here
Algonquin feels like two villages depending on where you land. The east side, Old Town, the Fox River neighborhoods, the older 20th-century streets, runs quieter and more historic. The west side, Randall Road, the new subdivisions, Algonquin Commons, runs newer and more suburban-commercial. Both feed the same schools but they sell to different buyers.
The Fox River is the through-line. People who live in Algonquin actually use the river, boating north to the Chain O'Lakes via the Stratton Lock, fishing the dam pool, biking the Prairie Trail along the bank, walking down to Founders' Days when the carnival sets up at Riverfront Park. That genuine water-town identity is what separates Algonquin from the dozens of generic Randall Road corridor suburbs.
Neighborhoods
Detailed Algonquin community pages coming soon.
Browse the listings above. Detailed neighborhood pages with market stats, school info, and lifestyle take-downs land here as we roll them out.
Schools
Districts serving Algonquin.
Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.
- D300Grades Pre-K – 12
Community Unit School District 300
Schools serving the area
- Harry D. Jacobs High School (Algonquin)
- Algonquin Middle School
- Eastview Elementary
- Neubert Elementary
D300 serves most of Algonquin K-12. Far western Algonquin addresses near Huntley feed Consolidated District 158 (Huntley HS). East-side addresses may feed Dundee-Crown HS in Carpentersville. Confirm per address.
From the neighborhood
Around Algonquin
Real local creators on TikTok. Tap a tile to play it right here.
Today’s Chamber Check-In is at Patrick Michael Jewelers on the downtown Huntley Square! 💎💍
@huntleyareachamberthe CUTESTTTT and YUMMIESTTT coffee shop in huntley, il!! ☕️✨🫶🏼 #coffeeshop #icedlatte #coffeedate
@cheyenne.andersonnDeicke Park 📍Huntley, IL Hidden gem! This place is amazing, has two playgrounds with lots of activities for kids all ages! Huge slide, sandbox, playhouses, picnic tables and more #chicagosuburbs #hun
@titibby01✨ Today is the day✨ Come see us at More Brewing Co in Huntley, IL from 3p-8p 💕 📚
@herefortheplot_xoAround town
What there is to do in Algonquin.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Parks
Riverfront Park
Downtown park along the Fox River, central to Founders' Days festival and the Summer Concert Series.
- Parks
Ted Spella Community Park
110-acre park on the west side (14 active acres + 96 acres natural area) with playground, pavilion, basketball, and tennis.
- Shopping
Algonquin Commons
600,000 sq ft outdoor lifestyle center at 1900 S. Randall Road. About 50 retailers and restaurants anchored by Trader Joe's, Fresh Market, Nordstrom Rack, and Pottery Barn.
- Culture
Historic Village Hall
1907 building at 2 S. Main Street in Old Town. Centerpiece of the downtown historic district along the Fox River.
- Family
Founders' Days Festival
Annual village festival the last full weekend of July, parade, fireworks, carnival, Taste of Algonquin.
- Parks
Fox River / Prairie Trail
26-mile sub-section of the Grand Illinois Trail runs along the Fox River through Algonquin. Bike, walk, run.
Getting around
Commute + transit from Algonquin.
DriveBy car
- Routes: Randall Road · IL 31 (Main Street) · IL 62 (Algonquin Road) · IL 25 · I-90 (via Randall Road in Elgin)
- O'Hare Airport: ~38 min
- Schaumburg: ~24 min
By the numbers
Algonquin taxes + market stats.
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Property tax rate
2.66%
effective avg
Sales tax
8.00%
combined
Median sold price
$416,995
MRED · last 12 mo (494 sales)
Median household income
$134,525
ACS
How Algonquin got here
A bit of history.
The first European settler was Samuel Gillilan from Virginia in 1834, followed by Dr. Cornish, Dr. Plumleigh, Eli Henderson, Alex Dawson, and William Jackson. Early proposed names included Denny's Ferry, Cornishville, and Osceola; settler Samuel Edwards's suggestion of "Algonquin" (after the Algonquian-language tribes) became official on December 23, 1847. Algonquin was formally incorporated as a Village on February 25, 1890 in both McHenry and Kane Counties.
From 1906 to 1913, Algonquin hosted the nationally recognized Algonquin Hill Climbs, early automobile manufacturers brought cars to climb Phillips Hill and Perry Hill, and a car winning the "Algonquin Cup" earned a national stamp of approval. The festival is still celebrated annually. Modern retail came late: the first shopping center didn't open until the late 1980s on Route 62. The Randall Road corridor took off in the 1990s, anchored by the opening of Algonquin Commons in 2004, described by the village as the largest outdoor mall in Illinois.
The questions buyers actually ask
Algonquin FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Algonquin. If yours isn't here, text 224-385-8779, same-day reply.
- McHenry side or Kane side?
- Algonquin straddles the county line, about 78% of the village is in McHenry County, 22% in Kane. Property tax rates run a bit different (~2.66% McHenry side vs ~2.60% Kane side), and sales tax can vary too because Kane County levies a small county tax that McHenry doesn't. The school district boundaries also don't follow the county line cleanly. Always confirm the county, tax rate, and school assignment for a specific address before writing an offer.
- What's the commute to Chicago like from Algonquin?
- There's no Metra station in Algonquin, the closest are Crystal Lake or Pingree Road on the UP-NW line, about 6-10 minutes north depending on which part of the village you live in. By car, the I-90 / Randall Road interchange is ~5 minutes south of the village center; ~38 minutes to O'Hare, ~24 minutes to Schaumburg. Pace Bus Route 550 runs along Randall to the Big Timber Metra station in Elgin on the MD-W line.
- How are Algonquin schools?
- Most of Algonquin is in Community Unit School District 300, Illinois's 6th-largest district, serving over 23,000 students. Jacobs High School sits in Algonquin and is the main D300 high school here; east-side addresses may feed Dundee-Crown in Carpentersville, and the far western edge feeds Huntley HS (D158). D300 is stable and well-funded; always confirm exact attendance for a specific address.
- What are property taxes like in Algonquin?
- Effective rates run about 2.66% on the McHenry side and 2.60% on the Kane side. On a $400,000 home that's roughly $10,400-$10,650/year. Property taxes here are higher than the IL state average but lower than DuPage suburbs like Naperville or Wheaton. Confirm by pulling the actual tax bill for the specific address, Ownwell, the County Treasurer pages, and Zillow's property records all show recent bills.
- Is the Randall Road corridor as busy as it looks?
- Yes, Randall is a 6-lane regional retail spine and the dominant north-south route through the area. Traffic is heaviest weekend midday and weekday rush. The upside is you can do almost any errand within 5 minutes of home (Algonquin Commons, Spring Hill Mall area, big-box, grocery, dining). The downside is that anyone living west of Randall has to cross it for downtown Algonquin or the Fox River.
- Where should I look first in Algonquin?
- Depends on what you want. Established 1980s-90s family neighborhoods on the east side near the Fox River: Algonquin Lakes, Stony Brook, or the Highlands. Newer 2000s-2010s subdivisions on the west side closer to Randall: Westview Crossing, Grand Reserve, Copper Oaks. Old Town historic stock walkable to the river and Founders' Days: streets around Main Street and Washington Street. Tell a Subdiview agent what matters most.
- Is Algonquin actually on a river?
- Yes. Algonquin sits on the Fox River, with the Algonquin Dam just upstream of downtown. The dam was built to raise the river level so boats could navigate north through the Stratton Lock (1907) into the Chain O'Lakes. Several Algonquin parks border the river, Riverfront, Towne, Cornish, and the Prairie Trail runs along the bank for biking and walking. Genuine river-town access, not just promotional language.
Nearby
Towns next to Algonquin.
If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the places that border Algonquin.
Your local agent
Joe knows Algonquin
Most agents will list anything. I focus on the places I actually know, and the things that move value here don't show up in the MLS write-up: which streets and buildings hold demand, what the HOA or assessments really cover, how the comps read once you account for condition and location, and where buyers consistently want to be.
When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who has read the last 50 closed comps in this specific market, not a national average, and can tell you what they actually mean for your price. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.
- Licensed Illinois broker
- Comp-driven pricing
- Algonquin specialist
- Honest local market take
- Brokerocity
Thinking of selling?
What's your home actually worth?
Not a Zestimate. A real CMA from someone who's sold this neighborhood, knows the floor plan premiums, and can tell you which upgrades the buyer pool here actually pays for.
- Pricing range with comp-by-comp logic
- Pre-list improvements that pay back, and the ones that don't
- No obligation, no spam, no auto-dialer