Clinton County tax bills and the December sale in Carlyle
Owner-occupied homes in Clinton County pay a median of $3,524 a year in real estate taxes, per Census survey data: $3,816 for owners with a mortgage and $3,076 for those without. Against the county's $192,400 median home value, that works out to roughly 1.8 percent a year. The general homestead exemption can take up to $6,000 off an owner-occupant's equalized assessed value, and owners 65 or older can get up to $5,000 more through the senior exemption.
The 2025 bills were mailed August 14, 2026, with installments due September 16 and October 28, 2026. Late payments add 1.5 percent interest a month. Taxes still unpaid go to the Treasurer's delinquent tax sale, set for 10 a.m. on December 28, 2026, in the County Boardroom at 810 Franklin St. in Carlyle. Once your taxes are sold, you generally have up to 3 years from the sale date to redeem a home with one to six units. Assessors must view every property every fourth year, and 2023 was a general reassessment year, which puts the next one in 2027. Each township, or multi-township district, elects its own assessor.
Foreclosure cases at the Fairfax Street courthouse
Every Illinois mortgage foreclosure goes through court. Clinton County sits in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which also covers Christian, Clay, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Marion, Montgomery and Shelby counties, and each county holds court in its own courthouse. Cases here are filed with the Circuit Clerk in the courthouse on Fairfax Street in Carlyle, the county seat. The circuit's rules, amended April 10, 2026, have no program built just for foreclosures. A judge can send any contested civil or chancery case to mediation, though, and both sides can agree to try it.
Your right to redeem by paying the full amount runs until the later of 7 months from service or 3 months from the judgment, and it ends before the sale. After the sale, the court still has to confirm it before the buyer can take possession. The Illinois foreclosure timeline and the deadline calculator walk through each step, including reinstatement and the possession date.
Breese, Carlyle and the undermined ground
Values fall as you move east, away from St. Clair County and Scott Air Force Base. Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put median home values at about $245,000 in Aviston and $230,000 in Breese, down to $155,000 in Carlyle and $72,500 in Keyesport, though small-village figures have wide error margins. The countywide median is $192,400, so where the house sits matters as much as its condition.
Coal mining left large undermined areas near several towns. Clinton is one of 34 Illinois counties where state law requires mine subsidence insurance to be included in homeowner policies, and the state fund's map puts 5,632 of the county's housing units in its Zones 1 and 2. When you sell, the state disclosure report asks about mine subsidence, and state law requires you to disclose in writing any subsidence claims that were paid. If a claim is still open, the fund describes an Assignment of Claim Rights, prepared by an attorney, that can pass future claim payments to the buyer.
What a $232,500 Clinton County sale leaves you
Redfin put the Clinton County median sale price at $232,500 in May 2026, on 22 sales, up about 17 percent from a year earlier, with a median of 50 days on market. There were 249 sales from June 2025 through May 2026, and monthly medians swung from $162,000 to $232,500. Here's a rough look at what comes out of $232,500 on a traditional listing:
- Agent commission at about 4.9 percent (Clever's Illinois average, updated September 2026): roughly $11,400
- Closing costs at about 1.2 percent: roughly $2,800
- State transfer tax at $0.50 per $500: about $230
- Clinton County transfer tax at $0.25 per $500: about $115
That's roughly $14,500 before your mortgage payoff, repairs or holding costs. By custom the seller usually pays transfer tax, but it's negotiable. If the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make an offer and you pick the closing date. Listing with an agent is also a fine choice, especially for a move-in-ready home in the western towns. If a deadline is pushing you, the pages on selling to stop a foreclosure and selling an inherited house lay out the options.
Clinton County's Metro East neighbors
Clinton County doesn't have its own town pages yet, so these nearby guides cover the rest of the Metro East.
- St. Clair County: shares New Baden and home to Scott Air Force Base
- Bond County: shares Keyesport and is also a mandatory mine subsidence county
- Madison County: borders Clinton to the northwest; foreclosure cases are heard in Edwardsville
- Belleville: St. Clair County seat, with an occupancy inspection once you decide to sell
- East St. Louis: occupancy permit and inspection before any sale
- All Illinois pages: the statewide directory of county and city pages
Sources: Census Reporter, median home value, Clinton County and its towns (ACS 2020-2024); Census Reporter, median real estate taxes, Clinton County (ACS 2020-2024); Clinton County Treasurer; Clinton County Property Taxes Explained; 35 ILCS 200/21-350; Fourth Judicial Circuit Rules of Practice; 735 ILCS 5/15-1603; Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund, How to Obtain Coverage; Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund, Buying and Selling; Redfin Data Center, county market tracker; Clever commission survey; Clever, Illinois transfer taxes
