Why is Bedford Park's residential population so small?

Bedford Park was incorporated in June 1940 specifically to keep the surrounding Clearing Industrial District out of Chicago's hands, and the village was zoned around industry from the start. The 2020 Census counted just 602 residents in 211 households living inside roughly 6 square miles of mostly industrial and rail land.

Are property taxes really lower for Bedford Park residents?

Cook County's median effective property tax rate is about 2.14 percent, but the Village of Bedford Park has historically rebated its village portion of property taxes back to residents. That rebate is underwritten by the village's very large commercial and industrial tax base, an arrangement almost no other Cook County town can match.

Why is the sales tax in Bedford Park so high?

The combined sales tax rate is 10.0 percent (6.25 percent state, 1.75 percent Cook County, 1.0 percent village, 1.0 percent special), which is higher than roughly 94 percent of Illinois jurisdictions. The village's 1.0 percent municipal portion is the maximum allowed by Illinois law.

How close is Midway Airport?

Midway is approximately 2 miles north of Bedford Park, a roughly 5-minute drive in normal traffic. I-55 and Cicero Avenue both feed directly into the airport, and the CTA Orange Line terminates at Midway with direct service to downtown Chicago.

What schools do Bedford Park kids attend?

Most K-5 students attend Walker Elementary in Summit School District 104, with portions of the village also falling into Indian Springs School District 109. High schoolers attend Argo Community High School (Argo CHSD 217) in Summit. Verify by address because Bedford Park spans 5 ZIP codes.

What major employers and rail operations are in Bedford Park?

Ingredion's Argo plant (the company's largest global facility, grinding about 250,000 bushels of corn per day) is the historic anchor. The Belt Railway Company of Chicago is headquartered in the village with about 450 employees, and BNSF's Corwith intermodal facility, one of the Midwest's busiest, sits immediately adjacent.

Is there a Metra station in Bedford Park?

No commuter rail station inside the village. The nearest commuter options are Metra's SouthWest Service stations south of the village and the CTA Orange Line's Midway terminal about 2 miles north, plus Pace bus routes 379, 383, 385, 386, and 390 serving the area.

Bedford Park · Cook County · IL

Homes for sale in
Bedford Park.

Active listings: 2
Median list: $444K
Avg time on market: 12 days
Sold · last year: 0

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Active listings

2 homes on the market

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$499,000

7630 66th Street

Bedford Park, IL

4 bd · 2 ba · 3,056 sqft

Price reduced

$389,900

$400K

7710 66th Street

Bedford Park, IL

3 bd · 3 ba · 1,627 sqft

About the community

Living in Bedford Park.

Bedford Park is one of the most unusual municipalities in the Chicago region: an industrial suburb of roughly 6 square miles whose 2020 Census counted just 602 residents in 211 households, yet whose tax base is built on hundreds of manufacturing, logistics, and rail tenants. The village hosts Ingredion's Argo plant, the company's largest global facility, grinding nearly 250,000 bushels of corn per day, and shares a footprint with the Belt Railway Company of Chicago and the BNSF Corwith intermodal complex, among the busiest in the Midwest. That commercial muscle is why the Village has been able to rebate the municipal portion of property taxes to its small residential pocket for years, an arrangement almost no other Cook County town can match. Sitting roughly 2 miles south of Midway Airport, Bedford Park is industrial Chicago in miniature, with a residential core that lives well because of it.

At a glance

~600 residents

Population was 602 at the 2020 census across 211 households, the smallest village in this part of Cook County by population.

6 sq mi mostly industrial

6.04 square miles total, with the residential core a tiny share of the footprint. Surrounded by plants, distribution centers, and the Belt Railway.

Property tax rebate

The Village has historically rebated its municipal portion of property taxes to residents, funded by the village's outsized commercial and industrial tax base.

2 miles to Midway

Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) is about 2 miles north, roughly 5 minutes by car. The CTA Orange Line connects from Midway into downtown.

I-55 + I-294

Direct access to the Stevenson Expressway and the Tri-State Tollway. Cicero Avenue (IL 50) runs north-south through the corridor.

Belt Railway + BNSF Corwith

Belt Railway of Chicago is headquartered in the village. BNSF's Corwith intermodal terminal, processing about 1,900 containers per day, sits immediately adjacent.

Ingredion Argo plant

Ingredion's largest global facility, grinding nearly 250,000 bushels of corn per day. The historic anchor of the village since 1908.

Incorporated 1940

Organized to prevent annexation by the City of Chicago. Henry C. Wahl was elected first village president that summer.

What’s close

Bedford Park sits on the southwest edge of Chicago, wedged between the city limits and the older industrial suburbs of the I-55 and Cicero corridor. It borders Chicago and Summit on the north and Justice, Bridgeview, and Burbank on the south, and pulls in highway, rail, and air freight access better than almost any village its size in Cook County.

Chicago Midway International Airport: About 2 miles north of the village. I-55 and Cicero Avenue both feed directly into the airport.
I-55 and I-294 interchange: Stevenson Expressway and Tri-State Tollway both run through the village footprint. Cicero Avenue (IL 50) is the primary north-south arterial.
Belt Railway of Chicago HQ: Headquartered in Bedford Park with about 450 employees, serving as one of the busiest freight interchange operations in the Midwest.
BNSF Corwith intermodal complex: Adjacent to the village. Among the busiest intermodal terminals in the Midwest, processing roughly 1,900 containers per day.
Bedford Park Community Park: Bedford Park District's main campus with the Swanson Gymnasium, ballfields, picnic pavilion, the seasonal Lily Pad Splash Pad, and free indoor mini-golf.
Five-ZIP coverage: Village mail addresses span ZIPs 60455, 60459, 60501, 60629, and 60638, which means school district verification by address is essential.

What it’s actually like to live here

Day-to-day life in Bedford Park is shaped by its tiny scale. With only about 211 households in the village, residents know each other and most municipal services run through a single Village Hall on a first-name basis. The Village runs an in-house Senior Rides program, grocery-ordering assistance for older residents, and has historically rebated the municipal portion of the property tax bill back to homeowners, a benefit underwritten by the industrial tax base around them. The Bedford Park District operates Community Park as the local hub, with the Swanson Gymnasium, ballfields, a picnic pavilion, the seasonal Lily Pad Splash Pad, and a mini-golf course inside the community building.

The trade-off for a low-tax, small-town feel is that you live alongside one of the densest industrial and rail footprints in metropolitan Chicago. Plants, distribution centers, and the Belt Railway sit immediately outside the residential pocket, and the village openly markets itself to industry through TIF districts and its Bring your business home to Bedford Park campaign. For grocery and everyday retail, residents drive Cicero Avenue, which carries an ALDI at 7020 S. Cicero, plus the full retail strip toward Midway and Burbank. For bigger nights out, neighbors Bridgeview (SeatGeek Stadium) and Oak Lawn cover most weekend plans.

Neighborhoods

Detailed Bedford Park 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 Bedford Park.

Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.

SD104Grades PreK-8
Summit School District 104
Schools serving the area
- Walker Elementary (Bedford Park)
- Wharton Elementary
- Graves Elementary
Walker Elementary at 7735 W. 66th Place in Bedford Park is the village's main K-5 anchor. Portions of Bedford Park households also fall into Indian Springs District 109; confirm by address.
CHSD217Grades 9-12
Argo Community High School District 217
Schools serving the area
- Argo Community High School (Summit)
Bedford Park high schoolers attend Argo Community High School in Summit. District draws from Summit, Bedford Park, Bridgeview, Justice, Willow Springs, and parts of Hickory Hills.

Around town

What there is to do in Bedford Park.

A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.

Getting around

Commute + transit from Bedford Park.

DriveBy car

Routes: I-55 (Stevenson Expressway) · I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) · Cicero Avenue (IL 50) · 65th Street
Midway Airport: ~5 min
Chicago Loop: ~24 min
O'Hare Airport: ~40 min

By the numbers

Bedford Park taxes + market stats.

Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.

Property tax rate

2.14%

effective avg

Sales tax

10.00%

combined

Median sold price

$350,000

MRED · last 12 mo (5 sales)

Median household income

$98,130

ACS

How Bedford Park got here

A bit of history.

In the early 1900s, the flat prairie that is now Bedford Park was first claimed by industry. In 1906, the Corn Products Refining Company broke ground for a wet milling plant on the site, and by 1908 the Argo corn refinery was producing cornstarch under the ARGO brand. Homes began to spring up around the plant by 1919, and the unincorporated community took the name of E.T. Bedford, then president of Corn Products.

Bedford Park was formally incorporated as a village in June 1940, largely to prevent annexation by the City of Chicago, which had been eyeing the surrounding Clearing Industrial District since 1938. Henry C. Wahl was elected the first village president, and the all-volunteer Bedford Park Fire Department was founded that October. The pattern set in those early decades, a small residential core surrounded by a sprawling industrial tax base, has defined the village ever since: by the 1960s the population had reached about 737 alongside continued factory expansion, and Ingredion (formerly Corn Products) still operates the Argo plant as its single largest global site.

The questions buyers actually ask

Bedford Park FAQ

The questions I get most from buyers shopping Bedford Park. If yours isn't here, text 815-355-0582, same-day reply.

Why is Bedford Park's residential population so small?: Bedford Park was incorporated in June 1940 specifically to keep the surrounding Clearing Industrial District out of Chicago's hands, and the village was zoned around industry from the start. The 2020 Census counted just 602 residents in 211 households living inside roughly 6 square miles of mostly industrial and rail land.
Are property taxes really lower for Bedford Park residents?: Cook County's median effective property tax rate is about 2.14 percent, but the Village of Bedford Park has historically rebated its village portion of property taxes back to residents. That rebate is underwritten by the village's very large commercial and industrial tax base, an arrangement almost no other Cook County town can match.
Why is the sales tax in Bedford Park so high?: The combined sales tax rate is 10.0 percent (6.25 percent state, 1.75 percent Cook County, 1.0 percent village, 1.0 percent special), which is higher than roughly 94 percent of Illinois jurisdictions. The village's 1.0 percent municipal portion is the maximum allowed by Illinois law.
How close is Midway Airport?: Midway is approximately 2 miles north of Bedford Park, a roughly 5-minute drive in normal traffic. I-55 and Cicero Avenue both feed directly into the airport, and the CTA Orange Line terminates at Midway with direct service to downtown Chicago.
What schools do Bedford Park kids attend?: Most K-5 students attend Walker Elementary in Summit School District 104, with portions of the village also falling into Indian Springs School District 109. High schoolers attend Argo Community High School (Argo CHSD 217) in Summit. Verify by address because Bedford Park spans 5 ZIP codes.
What major employers and rail operations are in Bedford Park?: Ingredion's Argo plant (the company's largest global facility, grinding about 250,000 bushels of corn per day) is the historic anchor. The Belt Railway Company of Chicago is headquartered in the village with about 450 employees, and BNSF's Corwith intermodal facility, one of the Midwest's busiest, sits immediately adjacent.
Is there a Metra station in Bedford Park?: No commuter rail station inside the village. The nearest commuter options are Metra's SouthWest Service stations south of the village and the CTA Orange Line's Midway terminal about 2 miles north, plus Pace bus routes 379, 383, 385, 386, and 390 serving the area.

Nearby

Towns next to Bedford Park.

If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the places that border Bedford Park.

Your local agent

Joe knows Bedford Park

Most agents will list anything. I focus on the communities I actually know, and the details that determine resale value here aren't in the MLS write-up: which lots back to open space, which streets carry the most consistent demand, which floor plans buyers ask for by name, and what each HOA actually covers.

When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who's walked the streets, talked to the residents, and read the last 50 closed comps in this market specifically. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.

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Homes for sale in Bedford Park.