Aurora · Kane County · IL
Homes for sale in
Aurora.
- Active listings
- 195
- Median list
- $420K
- Avg time on market
- 10 days
- Sold · last year
- 1,369
Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons (Unknown)
Active listings
195 homes on the market
About the community
Living in Aurora.
Aurora is not one market, it is four. The east side under District 131, the west side under District 129, the far-east Indian Prairie 204 addresses that feed Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley, and the small southern slice under Oswego 308 all command different prices for similar square footage, and your county line (Kane vs DuPage vs Kendall vs Will) also changes your tax bill. Downtown Aurora has had a real comeback with the Paramount Theatre's Broadway series, RiverEdge Park concerts, and a walkable Fox River core, while the Route 59 corridor on the east side delivers the newest construction and one of Metra's busiest stations. The west side around Stonebridge and Orchard Road is where you find golf-course custom homes that would price 25 to 40 percent higher under a Naperville zip code. If you are shopping Aurora, the first three questions I ask are: which school district, which county, and how close to Route 59 or the Aurora Transportation Center do you need to be.
At a glance
~180,500 residents
Second-largest city in Illinois (2020 Census).
Four-county footprint
Mostly Kane, with portions in DuPage, Kendall, and Will. Your county line changes your property tax bill.
BNSF Metra terminus
Aurora Transportation Center is 37.1 miles from Chicago Union Station. The Route 59 station is one of Metra's busiest.
Four school districts
West Aurora 129, East Aurora 131, Indian Prairie 204 (far east, Neuqua / Waubonsie Valley feeders), and a slice of Oswego 308.
Paramount Theatre
1,843-seat 1931 Art Deco theater downtown running the largest subscription Broadway series in the U.S.
RiverEdge Park
Outdoor riverfront concert venue (~8,500 capacity) that opened in 2013, host of Blues on the Fox each June.
Hollywood Casino
Operating on the Fox River since 1993, with a new $360M land-based casino planned near I-88 and Chicago Premium Outlets.
City of Lights
One of the first U.S. cities to install all-electric street lighting (1881), nickname formally adopted in 1908.
What’s close
Aurora sits along the Fox River about 41 miles west of downtown Chicago, anchoring the western edge of the I-88 tech corridor.
- Downtown Aurora / Stolp Island
- The Fox River core, anchored by the Paramount Theatre, RiverEdge Park, the Aurora Transportation Center, and the current Hollywood Casino. The most walkable part of the city.
- Route 59 corridor (east side)
- Newest construction, busiest commercial strip, Indian Prairie 204 schools, Fox Valley Mall, and the Route 59 Metra station.
- Stonebridge & far west side
- Golf-course custom-home community near Orchard Road. West Aurora 129 schools, easy I-88 access.
- Fox Valley Mall area
- Established 1980s-2000s subdivisions on the east side along Route 59 and US 34.
- Indian Prairie / far east Aurora
- Addresses that feed Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools, often priced as adjacent to Naperville.
- East side / D131 boundary
- Older housing stock, lower price per square foot, closer to downtown and the original industrial core.
What it’s actually like to live here
The lifestyle pitch in Aurora depends entirely on which side of town you land in. Downtown gives you walkable access to a 1,843-seat Broadway theater, an outdoor concert venue on the Fox River, the casino, and a growing restaurant and brewery scene that has genuinely changed since the early 2010s. The east side around Route 59 is suburban-grid living: Fox Valley Mall, Chicago Premium Outlets across the line, big-box retail along Route 59, and good access to both Metra and I-88. The west side and Stonebridge feel more like a Naperville or Wheaton golf-course neighborhood at a discount, and the far-east Indian Prairie addresses feel essentially like west Naperville.
Recreation is anchored by the Fox Valley Park District, which runs Blackberry Farm (a living-history pioneer village open May through October), Phillips Park with its free municipal zoo and 18-hole golf course, and a network of riverfront trails along the Fox. Annual draws include Blues on the Fox at RiverEdge Park every June, First Fridays downtown, and the Paramount's Broadway season that runs September through August. For families, the Indian Prairie 204 catchment in far-east Aurora is the strongest school argument and is the single biggest price driver between an otherwise comparable D131 and D204 house. For commuters, the BNSF is one of the best-run Metra lines in the system, with frequent express service from both the Aurora terminus and the Route 59 station.
Neighborhoods
Detailed Aurora 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 Aurora.
Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.
- D204Grades K – 12
Indian Prairie School District 204
Schools serving the area
- Neuqua Valley High School
- Waubonsie Valley High School
- Metea Valley High School
- Hill Middle School
Covers far-east Aurora and most of Naperville south of 75th Street. About 26,000 students across 35 schools. The single biggest school-driven price premium in Aurora.
- D129Grades Pre-K – 12
West Aurora School District 129
Schools serving the area
- West Aurora High School
- Herget Middle School
- Washington Middle School
PreK-12 district covering the west side of Aurora plus four other communities. Serves Stonebridge and most west-side subdivisions. About 10,700 students.
- D131Grades Pre-K – 12
East Aurora School District 131
Schools serving the area
- East Aurora High School
- Cowherd Middle School
- Simmons Middle School
- Waldo Middle School
13-square-mile footprint on the east side of Aurora closest to downtown. The lowest median home prices in the city sit inside this boundary. A small slice of south Aurora is in Oswego CUSD 308.
From the neighborhood
Around Aurora
Real local creators on TikTok. Tap a tile to play it right here.
No fear. All fun. Cody loves a carnival. #downsyndrome #theluckyfew #huntleyfallfest
@growingwithcody#tacosdelbarrio#mexicanfood #burritos#huntleytacoslocos #breakfastburritos
@tacosdelbarrio01Dennis, one of Animal House Shelter’s 5 longest residents, was adopted on Saturday!🥰 Which of these amazing pups will be next!? Come meet them at Animal House Shelter in Huntley, Illinois💕 #shelterd
@dogdayswithallieA bird’s eye view of last weekend’s BBQ in the Walled Garden at Hidden Huntley. Laid-back vibe and delicious food cooked fresh onsite. A lovely way to spend a summer afternoon with family and friends
@tablefoodcoAround town
What there is to do in Aurora.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Culture
Paramount Theatre
1,843-seat 1931 Art Deco theater in downtown Aurora running the largest subscription Broadway series in the U.S.
- Culture
RiverEdge Park
Outdoor riverfront concert venue (around 8,500 capacity) on the Fox River, host of Blues on the Fox each June.
- Family
Phillips Park Zoo
Free municipal zoo open year-round with 100-plus animals, a splash pad, tulip gardens, and seasonal tram rides.
- Culture
David L. Pierce Art & History Center
Free three-story Aurora Historical Society museum on Stolp Island covering Aurora's history from 1834 through the City of Lights era.
- Family
Blackberry Farm
Fox Valley Park District living-history pioneer village with train rides, paddle boats, a carousel, and 1880s-era shops. Open May to October.
- Shopping
Chicago Premium Outlets
Outlet shopping center on Farnsworth Avenue at I-88 with 170+ stores. The east-side retail anchor for Aurora and the broader Fox Valley.
Getting around
Commute + transit from Aurora.
MetraBNSF Railway line
- Stations: Aurora, Route 59
- Terminal: Chicago Union Station
- Distance: 37.1 miles to downtown Chicago
DriveBy car
- Routes: I-88 · IL 59 · IL 25 · IL 31 · US 30 · US 34
- Chicago Loop: ~60 min
- O'Hare Airport: ~55 min
- Naperville: ~15 min
By the numbers
Aurora taxes + market stats.
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Property tax rate
2.50%
effective avg
Sales tax
8.25%
combined
Median sold price
$320,000
MRED · last 12 mo (1369 sales)
Median household income
$94,784
ACS
How Aurora got here
A bit of history.
Aurora was founded in 1834 when New York millwright Joseph McCarty arrived at the Fox River and built a sawmill and grist mill at a spot where the river splits around a large island, which is still known as Stolp Island in downtown. The settlement was first called McCarty's Mill, then renamed Aurora after a town in New York, and was incorporated as a city in 1857. On November 8, 1881, Aurora became one of the first cities in the United States to install an all-electric street lighting system, using arc lamps mounted on 150-foot towers, and it formally adopted the nickname 'City of Lights' in 1908. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad arrived in 1849 and located its repair and construction shops in Aurora, which set the city up for a century as a heavy-rail and manufacturing town.
Through the late 1800s and early 1900s Aurora grew as a textile, foundry, and machine-shop city anchored by the railroad shops, and the population had already topped 23,000 by 1892. The mid-20th century brought the standard Rust Belt decline as manufacturing left, but the city has since rebuilt around a different mix: a Hollywood Casino on the Fox River that opened in 1993, the restoration of the 1931 Art Deco Paramount Theatre into the largest subscription Broadway series in the country, the 2013 opening of RiverEdge Park as an outdoor concert venue, and aggressive east-side growth around Fox Valley Mall, Route 59, and the Indian Prairie 204 school district. A new $360 million land-based Hollywood Casino is planned on Farnsworth Avenue near I-88, opposite Chicago Premium Outlets, which will reshape the city's east-side commercial core again.
The questions buyers actually ask
Aurora FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Aurora. If yours isn't here, text 224-385-8779, same-day reply.
- Which school district will my Aurora address be in?
- It depends entirely on where you are in the city. The east side near downtown is East Aurora 131, the west side (Stonebridge, Orchard Road) is West Aurora 129, and the far-east side bordering Naperville falls inside Indian Prairie 204 (feeding Neuqua Valley or Waubonsie Valley). A small slice of south Aurora is in Oswego 308. Always confirm the school assignment by exact address before you write an offer, because the boundaries do not follow obvious street lines.
- How is the Metra commute from Aurora?
- Strong. Aurora is the western terminus of the BNSF Line, one of the best-run Metra routes, with frequent service from the Aurora Transportation Center (37.1 miles, around 60 to 70 minutes to Chicago Union Station). The Route 59 station on the east side is one of Metra's busiest stations with a 4,400-plus space parking deck and frequent express service.
- Why does my Aurora property tax bill look so different from my neighbor's?
- Aurora spans four counties: Kane, DuPage, Kendall, and Will. The Kane County portion runs an effective rate around 2.5 percent. The DuPage County portion runs about 2.63 percent. Same city, different county assessor, different school levy, sometimes thousands of dollars apart annually.
- Aurora vs Naperville, what are buyers really getting?
- If you are in the Indian Prairie 204 portion of far-east Aurora, you are effectively buying into the same school system as west Naperville at a meaningfully lower price per square foot and often a lower tax rate. If you are anywhere else in Aurora, the school comparison is not equivalent, so you cannot just compare list prices. Naperville also commands a price premium for its downtown and brand recognition.
- Is downtown Aurora actually worth visiting?
- Yes, and the change in the last decade is real. The 1,843-seat Paramount Theatre runs the largest subscription Broadway series in the country, RiverEdge Park hosts outdoor summer concerts on the Fox River, the David L. Pierce Art & History Center is free, and the restaurant and brewery scene on and around Stolp Island has come back over the past several years.
- Where is the newest construction in Aurora?
- Mostly on the east side along the Route 59 corridor and the far-east Indian Prairie 204 catchment, plus some infill on the west side. Stonebridge is mature custom-home inventory rather than new construction. If newest-build matters more than schools, look at the east side. If schools matter more, look at D204 specifically.
- What about the casino?
- The original Hollywood Casino opened on the Fox River in 1993. A new $360 million land-based Hollywood Casino is planned on Farnsworth Avenue just north of I-88, opposite Chicago Premium Outlets, with 1,200-plus gaming positions, a sportsbook, a hotel, and a spa. The east-side commercial core will keep evolving around that project.
Nearby
Towns next to Aurora.
If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the places that border Aurora.
Your local agent
Joe knows Aurora
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
- Aurora 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