Johnsburg · McHenry County · IL
Homes for sale in
Johnsburg.
- Active listings
- 30
- Median list
- $522K
- Avg time on market
- 41 days
- Sold · last year
- 93
Active listings
30 homes on the market
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About the community
Living in Johnsburg.
Johnsburg's roots go back to 1841, when families from the Eifel region of Germany settled along the Fox River and named the new community after Johann Frett, the son of one of the original settlers. The village formally incorporated in modern form in 1992 (when the older village of Sunnyside annexed surrounding land and renamed itself Johnsburg). Pistakee Lake (~1,700 acres) sits at the foot of the village and connects to the broader Chain O'Lakes, so the lifestyle pull is genuine water access plus Pistakee Yacht Club, which has operated for more than 120 years. The buyer differentiator most people search Johnsburg for is the school district: Johnsburg Community Unit School District 12 is a self-contained PreK-12 district of about 1,700 students, separate from McHenry's D15 + D156 system next door. Remington Grove (KLM Builders) is the active new-construction subdivision; older stock around Pistakee and along Chapel Hill Road fills the rest.
At a glance
~6,355 residents
2020 Census. Compact village footprint northeast of McHenry along the Fox River.
Johnsburg D12 (PreK-12)
Self-contained unit district of about 1,700 students. Ringwood Primary, Johnsburg Elementary, Johnsburg Junior High, Johnsburg High School. The main reason buyers specifically choose Johnsburg.
Pistakee Lake + Chain O'Lakes
1,700-acre Pistakee Lake at the foot of the village connects to the 7,100-acre Chain. Pistakee Yacht Club operating for 120+ years.
Median income $121K
Well above McHenry County average. Reflects newer subdivisions and lakefront stock.
Route 31 spine
IL 31 runs north-south through the village; Chapel Hill Road and Johnsburg Road are the local arterials.
No Metra in town
Closest commuter rail is the McHenry station (UP-NW McHenry Branch, limited service) about 5-10 minutes south.
Founded by Eifel-region Germans, 1841
Catholic-German settlement along the Fox. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church anchors the historic district.
Effective property tax 2.49%
Median annual bill around $7,041 (higher in absolute dollars than McHenry city because Johnsburg home values are higher).
What’s close
Johnsburg's neighborhoods run from Pistakee Lake on the south up Route 31 to Chapel Hill Road, with Remington Grove on the west side and older lakefront stock on the east side.
- Pistakee Lake waterfront
- 1,700-acre lake at the foot of the village with multiple yacht clubs and private piers.
- St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
- Historic anchor of the original 1841 German settlement. Still the cultural center of the village.
- Remington Grove (KLM Builders)
- Active new-construction community off Route 31. Townhomes and single-family from 1,400 to 4,000 sq ft.
- Johnsburg D12 schools
- Ringwood Primary, Johnsburg Elementary, Johnsburg Junior High, Johnsburg High. All inside the village.
- Sunnyside Memorial Park
- Village park with soccer and baseball fields, sand volleyball.
- Chain O'Lakes access
- Pistakee connects directly to the 7,100-acre Chain. Year-round boating for waterfront-property owners.
What it’s actually like to live here
Johnsburg is the McHenry-area boat-to-your-own-back-yard option without paying Lake Geneva prices. Pistakee Lake sits at the foot of the village, the Chain O'Lakes opens up to the north, and residents who buy along Pistakee or in waterfront pockets tend to be year-round boaters and anglers. The inventory mix runs from older waterfront cottages (many of them post-cottage rebuilds) through 1990s-2000s single-family neighborhoods to the still-selling Remington Grove townhome and single-family build by KLM Builders off Route 31. Buyers shopping Johnsburg are typically optimizing for a real water lifestyle, a small-district school option, or both.
The thing that actually makes Johnsburg different from neighboring McHenry is the school district. Johnsburg CUSD 12 is its own PreK-12 unit district with about 1,700 students. Families specifically buy into Johnsburg for D12, and many homes one block over (in unincorporated McHenry or Wonder Lake) route to a different district entirely. The village still skews older, with a 45.5 median age and a high married-household share, but the Remington Grove product is bringing in younger move-up families.
Neighborhoods
Detailed Johnsburg 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 Johnsburg.
Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.
- D12Grades Pre-K - 12
Johnsburg Community Unit School District 12
Schools serving the area
- Ringwood Primary Center
- Johnsburg Elementary School
- Johnsburg Junior High School
- Johnsburg High School
Self-contained unit district of about 1,700 students. District office at 2222 W Church Street. The most important fact about Johnsburg real estate: addresses inside D12 route here for all 13 years, addresses one block outside route to McHenry D15 + D156.
Homes by school
Homes for sale by school in Johnsburg
Around town
What there is to do in Johnsburg.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Parks
Pistakee Yacht Club
120+ year-old yacht club on Pistakee Lake. Runs the Community Sailing School and seasonal regattas.
- Parks
Sunnyside Memorial Park
Village park with soccer and baseball fields plus a sand volleyball court. Hosts village community events.
- Parks
Moraine Hills State Park
2,200-acre state park to the south. Color-coded trails around Lake Defiance, fishing, boat rentals at the McHenry Dam concession.
- Parks
Weingart Road Sedge Meadow
50-acre protected wetland peninsula jutting into Pistakee Lake. Quiet birding and prairie walks.
- Culture
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
Historic Catholic church established by the original 1841 German settlers. Centerpiece of the historic district.
- Parks
Petersen Park beach (just west in McHenry)
Public beach on McCullom Lake about 10 minutes west. Easy add-on for Johnsburg residents.
Getting around
Commute + transit from Johnsburg.
- Routes: IL 31 · Chapel Hill Road · Johnsburg Road
- O'Hare Airport: ~58 min
- Chicago Loop: ~75 min
By the numbers
Johnsburg taxes + market stats.
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Property tax rate
2.49%
effective avg
Sales tax
8.25%
combined
Median sold price
$415,000
MRED · last 12 mo (93 sales)
Median household income
$121,023
ACS
How Johnsburg got here
A bit of history.
Johnsburg's roots go to 1841, when families from the Eifel region of Germany (largely Mayen-Koblenz) settled along the Fox River to escape religious persecution and poor conditions at home. Nicholas Frett died before reaching the settlement, but his son Johann (John) welcomed the later arrivals, and the community named itself after him. The first log church-school-meeting-hall went up in 1842, and the village was formally platted in June 1868. The early economy was Catholic-German farming, 160-acre plots at $2.50 an acre, wheat and corn.
The modern village is younger than the community. The old Sunnyside village and Johnsburg leaders struck an informal agreement that allowed Sunnyside to annex the surrounding land, tripling its size, on the condition it rename itself Johnsburg. After Sunnyside completed the annexation in 1992, the village board legally adopted the name Johnsburg. Today's economy is more residential-suburban than agricultural: the anchor institution is Johnsburg Community Unit School District 12, which serves the village independent of neighboring McHenry. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, established by those first German Catholic settlers, remains the historic and cultural center of the village.
The questions buyers actually ask
Johnsburg FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Johnsburg. If yours isn't here, text 224-385-8779, same-day reply.
- How does Johnsburg D12 differ from surrounding McHenry and Wonder Lake schools?
- Johnsburg CUSD 12 is a self-contained PreK-12 unit district of about 1,700 students that runs Ringwood Primary, Johnsburg Elementary, Johnsburg Junior High, and Johnsburg High. McHenry uses two districts (D15 elementary plus CHSD 156 high school) and Wonder Lake's east side uses Harrison D36 plus McHenry CHSD 156. If you want your child in Johnsburg High School, the parcel literally has to be inside the D12 boundary. This is the single most important question to verify on any Johnsburg-area home search.
- What's the commute like?
- About 58 minutes to O'Hare and 75+ minutes to the Loop. There is no Metra in Johnsburg. The closest stations are McHenry (UP-NW McHenry Branch, limited service) and Fox Lake (MD-N terminus). Many Johnsburg commuters drive south to Crystal Lake for the faster UP-NW main line.
- What's Fox River and Chain O'Lakes access like?
- Pistakee Lake (1,700 acres) is the village's water body and feeds directly into the Chain. The Pistakee Yacht Club has been operating for 120+ years and runs the Community Sailing School. Multiple village parks (Sunnyside Memorial, Weingart Sedge Meadow) sit on the water. Waterfront homes carry a meaningful premium.
- What new-construction options exist in the village?
- Remington Grove (KLM Builders) is the main active community: 77 townhomes plus single-family homes from 1,400 to 4,000 sq ft. Single-family from about $424K to $538K, townhomes from about $291K to $357K. On city water and sewer, off Route 31 north of the village core.
- How do taxes compare to McHenry?
- Median effective property tax rate is 2.49 percent in Johnsburg vs. 2.83 percent in McHenry city, but the bill is higher in absolute dollars (median around $7,041) because Johnsburg home values are higher. Sales tax is 8.25 percent combined.
- Is Johnsburg the same as McHenry?
- No. Johnsburg is its own incorporated village with its own village hall, police force, and school district. Many addresses inside McHenry city limits a few minutes south route to McHenry D15 + D156 schools and pay McHenry property taxes. Always confirm the village and school district on the actual parcel.
- Who is the real estate agent for Johnsburg?
- Joe Keegan is the local licensed Illinois real estate broker who covers Johnsburg in Johnsburg, IL through Subdiview, a neighborhood-first home search for the Chicago suburbs and collar counties. Joe prices and negotiates from the live MRED sold comps for Johnsburg specifically, not national averages, and can help you buy or sell here. Reach Joe at 224-385-8779 or joe@joekeeganhomes.com.
Nearby
Towns next to Johnsburg.
If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the places that border Johnsburg.
Your local agent
Joe knows Johnsburg
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
- Johnsburg 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
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