Volo · Lake County · IL
Homes for sale in
Volo.
- Active listings
- 11
- Median list
- $350K
- Avg time on market
- 7 days
- Sold · last year
- 0
Map data, Mapbox / OpenStreetMap contributors
Active listings
11 homes on the market
About the community
Living in Volo.
Volo is a small but rapidly expanding village in southwestern Lake County, sitting where U.S. Route 12 (Rand Road), Illinois Route 60, and Illinois Route 120 meet at the western edge of the Chicago suburbs. The village is best known for the sprawling Volo Auto Museum on Volo Village Road and for the nearby Volo Bog State Natural Area, the only quaking bog in Illinois. Most local children attend Big Hollow School District 38 for K-8 and continue on to Grant Community High School in Fox Lake (District 124). Volo was not incorporated until 1993, and much of the residential growth, including subdivisions such as Remington Pointe and the new Volo Town Center mixed-use project, has arrived since the 2000s. The population reached 6,122 at the 2020 Census, up sharply from earlier counts as new construction homes filled in along Fish Lake Road and the Route 12 corridor.
At a glance
6,122 residents (2020 Census)
Up sharply from earlier decades as new subdivisions fill in along Fish Lake Road and Route 12.
Incorporated April 26, 1993
Among the youngest municipalities in Lake County. Originally the rural settlement of Forksville, renamed Volo in 1868.
Big Hollow D38 + Grant D124
Big Hollow School District 38 covers PreK-8 from a single 62-acre campus in Ingleside. High schoolers attend Grant Community HS in Fox Lake.
U.S. 12, IL 60, IL 120
Village sits at the convergence of U.S. Route 12 (Rand Road), Illinois Route 60, and Illinois Route 120.
Volo Bog State Natural Area
The only quaking bog in Illinois, an IDNR-protected glacial relic with a half-mile floating boardwalk just outside the village.
Volo Auto Museum
75-acre indoor and outdoor complex on Volo Village Road with classic cars, Hollywood vehicles, Jurassic Gardens, the Titanic Museum, and an antique mall.
Median household income ~$103,264
Per capita income ~$41,911. Roughly 31.5 percent of residents under 18, well above the typical Lake County share.
Volo Town Center
Mixed-use retail and multi-family project at U.S. 12 and Gilmer Road on the village's growth corridor.
What’s close
Volo sits at the southwestern corner of Lake County, in Wauconda Township, roughly 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The village is built around the intersection of U.S. Route 12 (Rand Road) and Illinois Route 120, with Illinois Route 60 terminating at the eastern edge of the village. Lakemoor lies about a mile and a half to the west across the McHenry County line, and Wauconda is the next major village to the south.
- Volo Auto Museum
- 27582 Volo Village Road, Volo, IL 60073, just off U.S. Route 12. 75-acre complex with collector cars, Jurassic Gardens, the Titanic Museum, and a 300-vendor antique mall.
- Volo Bog State Natural Area
- 28478 W. Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL 60041. IDNR-protected quaking bog with a half-mile floating boardwalk and 5.5 miles of additional trails, minutes from the village.
- Volo Village Hall
- 500 S Fish Lake Road, Volo, IL 60073.
- Lakemoor border
- About 1.5 miles west of central Volo at the McHenry County line.
- Route 12 commercial corridor
- Rand Road / U.S. 12 anchors the Volo Town Center mixed-use project at Gilmer Road.
- Fish Lake
- Glacial lake on the south edge of the village, home to Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort.
What it’s actually like to live here
Volo has the feel of a still-developing edge suburb. Most of the village is laid out as recent subdivisions of detached single-family homes built between roughly 2000 and the present, with newer construction continuing along Fish Lake Road and the Route 12 corridor. Families dominate the demographic profile: the median age is 34.5 and roughly 31.5 percent of residents are under 18, well above the typical Lake County share. Median household income is over $103,000 and the poverty rate is unusually low at about 1.3 percent.
Day-to-day life leans on the Chain O' Lakes region for recreation, on Wauconda and McHenry for additional retail, and on the developing Volo Town Center for closer-in shopping. The village's signature draws, the Volo Auto Museum and the Volo Bog State Natural Area, sit at opposite ends of the local character: one a 75-acre indoor attraction with collector cars and dinosaurs, the other a quiet glacial bog with a half-mile floating boardwalk. Lakes, forest preserves, and Six Flags Great America are all within an easy drive.
Neighborhoods
Detailed Volo 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 Volo.
Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.
- D38Grades Pre-K to 8
Big Hollow School District 38
Schools serving the area
- Big Hollow Primary School
- Big Hollow Elementary School
- Big Hollow Middle School
Single 62-acre campus in Ingleside (26051 W Nippersink Road) housing primary, elementary, and middle schools. About 1,698 students at a 14:1 ratio. Serves portions of Volo, Fox Lake, Lakemoor, and Round Lake.
- D124Grades 9 to 12
Grant Community High School District 124
Schools serving the area
- Grant Community High School
Single high school at 285 E Grand Avenue, Fox Lake. Roughly 1,769 students. Covers about 30 square miles including Volo, Fox Lake, Ingleside, Lake Villa, Round Lake, Round Lake Heights, Round Lake Beach, Lakemoor, and Spring Grove.
From the neighborhood
Around Volo
Real local creators on TikTok. Tap a tile to play it right here.
Community Update: Construction continues next to the Metra station in downtown Crystal Lake as Depot Park and surrounding public spaces undergo upgrades to improve walkability, landscaping, lighting,
@ian.douglas.mJack in the Box in Lake in the Hills, IL now open! #jackinthebox #grandopening #chicagofoodie #latenight #tacos
@dabesteatzNature's View in Lake in the Hills 5705 Lucerne Drive There are numerous neighborhood parks that are fantastic and ones like these are some of my kids favorites! There's a main climbing structure/to
@westofthefoxFamily-friendly pizza pub, taco pizza was a win🍕#localfinds #pizzanight #crystallake #girlsnightoutbelike #spicymargarita
@harleysmama01Around town
What there is to do in Volo.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Culture
Volo Auto Museum
75-acre complex on Volo Village Road with classic cars, Hollywood vehicles, Jurassic Gardens, the Titanic Museum, and a 300-vendor antique mall.
- Parks
Volo Bog State Natural Area
Illinois' only quaking bog, an IDNR-protected glacial site with a half-mile floating boardwalk and 5.5 miles of additional trails.
- Family
Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort
Lakeside resort on the shores of Fish Lake with heated pool, pickleball, and a full event pavilion.
- Shopping
Volo Town Center
Mixed-use retail and multi-family project at U.S. 12 and Gilmer Road on the Volo growth corridor.
- Family
Jurassic Gardens at the Volo Museum
15,000 sq ft indoor animatronic dinosaur park inside the Volo Museum complex.
- Parks
Tamarack View Trail at Volo Bog
2.75-mile loop through woods, wetlands, prairie, and fields around the perimeter of Volo Bog SNA.
Getting around
Commute + transit from Volo.
DriveBy car
- Routes: U.S. Route 12 (Rand Road) · Illinois Route 60 · Illinois Route 120 (Belvidere Road) · Fish Lake Road
- O'Hare Airport: ~45 min
- Chicago Loop: ~70 min
- Round Lake Metra (MD-N): ~13 min
By the numbers
Volo taxes + market stats.
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Property tax rate
4.20%
effective avg
Sales tax
8.00%
combined
Median sold price
$340,000
MRED · last 12 mo (121 sales)
Median household income
$103,264
ACS
How Volo got here
A bit of history.
The community that became Volo started life as Forksville, named for the fork where the McHenry-Chicago and Little Fort (Waukegan) roads met. The Forksville post office opened on March 24, 1848, and the village was surveyed and laid out on October 12, 1849. On November 27, 1868, the post office was renamed Volo, reportedly at the suggestion of Greek immigrants for the city of Volos in eastern Greece. The Volo post office served the crossroads hamlet until it was discontinued on June 14, 1904, with mail rerouted to Round Lake.
For most of the 20th century Volo remained an unincorporated rural settlement at the intersection of U.S. Route 12 and Illinois Route 120. The push to incorporate came in the early 1990s when a proposal to annex the area into Lakemoor, widen Route 120, and drop a shopping center at the 12-and-120 corner galvanized residents into action. Volo was officially incorporated as a village on April 26, 1993, making it one of the youngest municipalities in Lake County. Since incorporation the village has pursued an aggressive growth strategy, adding subdivisions, the Volo Town Center development, and an expanding commercial footprint along Rand Road.
The questions buyers actually ask
Volo FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Volo. If yours isn't here, text 815-355-0582, same-day reply.
- What school district is Volo in?
- Most of Volo is in Big Hollow School District 38 for K-8, based at a single 62-acre campus in Ingleside, with high schoolers attending Grant Community High School in Fox Lake (District 124). A handful of addresses on the village edges may fall into adjacent districts, so always verify by address.
- Does Volo have a Metra station?
- No. Volo does not have its own Metra stop. The nearest service is the Round Lake station on the Milwaukee District North Line, roughly 8 miles east, with the Fox Lake terminal a few stops further north on the same line. Round Lake to Chicago Union Station is about 44 miles.
- How long is the commute from Volo to downtown Chicago?
- By car, downtown Chicago is about 50 miles from Volo, roughly an hour and ten minutes in normal traffic via I-90 or I-290. O'Hare is closer, about 35 miles and 45 minutes via U.S. Route 12.
- What are property taxes like in Volo?
- Volo has one of the higher effective property tax rates in Lake County, around 4.2 percent per Ownwell data, compared with a county-wide median closer to 3.5 percent. Annual bills commonly run from the high $5,000s into the $10,000-$11,000+ range depending on home value.
- What is the Volo Bog and is it actually in Volo?
- Volo Bog State Natural Area is the only quaking bog in Illinois, a glacial relic protected by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Its address is in Ingleside (28478 W. Brandenburg Road), just outside the Volo village boundary, but it is widely associated with the village and reachable in a few minutes from anywhere in town.
- Is Volo a new community?
- Volo's roots go back to the 1840s as the village of Forksville, renamed Volo in 1868, but as a municipality Volo is very young. It did not incorporate as a village until April 26, 1993, and most of the residential subdivisions you see today were built after 2000.
- What is a Volo mailing address actually buying you?
- A Volo address gets you village-level services in southwestern Lake County, Big Hollow D38 / Grant 124 schools, the Volo Auto Museum and Volo Bog as backyard attractions, and quick access to U.S. 12, IL-60, and IL-120 for both Chicago and McHenry County commutes. The trade-off is one of the higher effective property tax rates in the county.
Nearby
Towns next to Volo.
If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the places that border Volo.
Your local agent
Joe knows Volo
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.
- Lives in McHenry County
- Local specialist
- Volo 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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