Chillicothe sits on the Illinois River fifteen miles north of Peoria, and it doesn't compete with Dunlap or Germantown Hills on price — it competes on being the most affordable river town in the book with a school district that still gets the job done. If your budget is the binding constraint, this is where to look first.
Every other town page in this series leads with why the town costs a premium. This one is different on purpose: Chillicothe is where a buyer priced out of Dunlap or Germantown Hills should look next. Zillow's value index sits near $177,500, and the median list price runs lower still, around $152,300 as of February 2026 — both a fraction of Dunlap's ~$381,000 or Washington's ~$227,000.
The gap between the $177,500 value index and the $152,300 [1] list price is worth a plain explanation rather than a shrug: Zillow's figure models the value of the entire existing housing stock, while the list-price figure reflects what's actually for sale in a given month — a smaller, sometimes older, sometimes more dated slice of the market. Buyers should expect real variation street to street, which is exactly the kind of thing a walk-through answers better than a website.
Chillicothe is served by Illinois Valley Central Unit School District 321 [2], which SchoolDigger ranks 250th of 813 Illinois districts — squarely mid-pack, not a top-10% story like Dunlap or Germantown Hills. Illinois Valley Central High School carries a 4-star SchoolDigger rating and sits in the top 30% of Illinois high schools, with science proficiency running consistently above both the state and district averages, even where math and English trail the state slightly.
A functioning, solidly-rated district — worth stating plainly rather than inflating. Families choosing Chillicothe are usually optimizing for price and river life first, schools second. That's a legitimate trade, and this page treats it as one.
Chillicothe's own tagline is "Where the Rails Cross the River" — the town sits directly on the Illinois River along Route 29, with the kind of small-town waterfront character [3] Dunlap and Washington don't have. For buyers who want river access without a Peoria-suburb price tag, this is the trade-off.
Chillicothe sits about 15 miles north of Peoria [4] along the Illinois River and Route 29 — roughly a 22-minute drive without traffic, making it a realistic commute for Peoria employers while carrying a genuinely different, quieter character than the suburbs closer in.
Drive times are typical off-peak estimates.
| Destination | Approx. drive |
|---|---|
| Downtown Peoria | ~22 min |
| OSF Saint Francis Medical Center | ~22–25 min |
| Bradley University | ~22 min |
Zillow's home value index sat near $177,500 in early 2026, up 8.4% year over year. The median list price ran lower, around $152,300 [1]. Either way, it's the most affordable of the towns in this report — well under Dunlap, Washington, or Germantown Hills.
Solid, not exceptional. Illinois Valley Central USD 321 ranks 250th of 813 Illinois districts, and Illinois Valley Central High School holds a 4-star SchoolDigger rating in the state's top 30%. A functioning district, priced accordingly.
About 15 miles north along the Illinois River and Route 29 — roughly a 22-minute drive without traffic.
For buyers who want the lowest entry price among the river and suburb towns The Ashley Home Team covers, plus direct Illinois River access and a workable school district, yes. It is a value and lifestyle choice rather than a prestige one, and the numbers support that framing honestly.
For buyers whose budget is the binding constraint, it makes a strong case. Chillicothe sits 15 miles north of Peoria on the Illinois River, about a 22-minute drive [4]. Zillow's home value index ran near $177,500 in early 2026, up 8.4% year over year [1], and median household income is $66,132 — close to the Peoria metro figure. Illinois Valley Central High School rates 4 stars, in the top 30% of Illinois high schools [2]. The limit is scale: roughly 6,010 residents, so listing inventory is thin and choice is narrower than in Washington or Morton.
The Ashley Home Team — Bryce Ashley, Illinois license 475.182580, at eXp Realty — serves Chillicothe and northern Peoria County, and can be reached at 309-397-6982. Bryce lives in Chillicothe. With roughly 6,010 residents, listing volume is low enough that individual sales move the reported averages, so local comparables matter more here than county-level figures.
48 active listings in Chillicothe as of 20 August 2026 — prices, reductions and open houses update continuously on the feed.
View all 48 Chillicothe listingsOpens the searchable MLS feed on eXp Realty.
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Call 309-397-6982