The Cook County Assessor has decided 64,911 of the 80,848 residential appeals filed so far for tax year 2026. 12,183 received a reduction, 18.8%, with an average cut of 8.1% of assessed value among the winners. Decisions run through September 17, 2026. Townships whose windows closed in September are still being decided, and several townships' windows are still open. Every figure here is the county's own outcome data for all appellants, represented or not, not this firm's results, and each appeal counts once, even when it covers many parcels, such as a condominium building's units.
2026 Assessor results by township (residential, decided through September 17)
| Township | Triad | Appeals decided | Reduced | Win rate | Average cut (winners) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Forest | south | 1,731 | 583 | 33.7% | 7.3% |
| Oak Park | south | 5,945 | 1,604 | 27.0% | 8.1% |
| Riverside | south | 2,001 | 528 | 26.4% | 8.2% |
| Berwyn | south | 3,565 | 823 | 23.1% | 8.8% |
| Lyons | south | 8,747 | 1,938 | 22.2% | — |
| New Trier | north | 6,631 | 1,306 | 19.7% | 7.5% |
| Cicero | south | 2,469 | 486 | 19.7% | 8.4% |
| Stickney | south | 2,226 | 423 | 19.0% | 8.3% |
| Palos | south | 4,597 | 855 | 18.6% | 8.7% |
| Evanston | north | 2,857 | 512 | 17.9% | 7.0% |
| West | city | 7,221 | 1,058 | 14.7% | — |
| Lake View | city | 5,401 | 728 | 13.5% | 9.0% |
| Maine | north | 5,579 | 692 | 12.4% | 8.0% |
| Elk Grove | north | 2,872 | 299 | 10.4% | 6.7% |
| Norwood Park | north | 1,169 | 117 | 10.0% | 6.6% |
| Rogers Park | city | 1,133 | 98 | 8.6% | 11.3% |
Townships with at least 1,000 decided appeals. A dash means the county has recorded the reductions but not yet published the new values. Fewer decided so far: Northfield 473, Lemont 116, Calumet 86, Bremen 57, Hyde Park 25, Worth 9, Barrington 1. Filed and not yet decided: Northfield 6,256, Bremen 2,723, Lyons 2,235, Worth 1,773, Lemont 1,074, Barrington 654, Leyden 427, Hyde Park 406, Wheeling 279.
Why the reassessed townships won more
The south and west suburbs were reassessed for 2026, and the top five of the table, led by River Forest at 33.7%, are all south and west suburban townships. That is not a coincidence. In a reassessment year the whole township is revalued from a mass-appraisal model, individual homes land on the wrong side of their neighbors more often, and a uniformity appeal has more to work with. Townships reassessed in earlier years, in the north suburbs (2025) and the city (2024), are appealing values that have already been through rounds of appeals, so fewer stand out; Rogers Park, at 8.6%, is at the bottom.
Lost at the Assessor? The Board of Review reduces about three times as many
The Assessor's window is the first venue, not the last. For tax year 2025 the Assessor reduced 20.7% of residential appeals in the north suburbs, 12.3% in the south suburbs and 16.8% in the city. The Board of Review, deciding after the Assessor, reduced 59.0% in the north, 41.3% in the south and 44.6% in the city. A Board appeal is independent: you can file whether or not you filed with the Assessor, and whether or not the Assessor said no.
The Board of Review's first two 2026 groups ran August 3 – September 1 (Evanston, New Trier, Norwood Park, Oak Park, River Forest, Riverside, Rogers Park) and August 31 – September 29 (Berwyn, Cicero, Elk Grove, Lake View, Maine, Palos); the rest follow as the Assessor certifies each township. Every other township's dates are on the deadlines page as the Board publishes them.
What the winners had in common
Residential appeals are decided on paper, and the argument that carries is uniformity: assessed value per square foot compared with similar homes in the same neighborhood code. An 8% average cut on a $35,000 assessment is about $2,800 of assessed value; at a 10% composite rate and the 3.03 equalizer that is roughly $850 a year, and a 2026 reduction in a reassessed township carries through 2027 and 2028.
See how your home compares with the free property check, or start an appeal. Our fee is 25% of the first year's savings and nothing if there is no reduction. Methodology: Cook County Assessor and Board of Review appeal files as loaded September 27, 2026; Class 2 (residential) appeals; counted by appeal (one case number, however many parcels it covers); "reduced" means the county recorded a change that did not raise the value, or, where it recorded no result, the value fell; average cuts use the appeals whose new values are published.
