St. Clair County tax bills and the November 2 tax sale
Owner-occupied homes in St. Clair County pay a median of $3,665 a year in real estate taxes, per Census survey data: $4,189 for owners with a mortgage and $2,871 for those without. Against a median home value of $180,300, that's roughly 2 percent of value each year. The county government's own rate for tax year 2025 is 0.8959 percent of equalized assessed value, and school, city, township and other district rates stack on top of it.
Anything still unpaid at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 was headed to the annual tax sale set for Monday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. This year works differently. Under Public Act 104-0553, the County Board, acting as trustee for every taxing district, chose to acquire all delinquent 2025 real estate taxes itself instead of selling them to private bidders. Redemptions are paid at the County Clerk's office. The penalty on sold taxes grows every six months, and partial payments aren't accepted. Ask the Clerk for the full redemption cost and your exact deadline before you plan a sale around it.
Foreclosure cases at the Belleville courthouse
Every Illinois mortgage foreclosure goes through court, and here that's the 20th Judicial Circuit, which now covers St. Clair County alone, with the courthouse in Belleville. The county saw 479 new foreclosure cases filed in 2023.
The state clock is the same in every county. You can reinstate the loan by catching up on missed payments and costs within 90 days after you're served. 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 holds a hearing to confirm it, and the buyer can take possession 30 days after that order. For help, the county's Community Services Block Grant program offers mortgage assistance to owners who are at least 30 days and no more than 2 months behind, with income under 200 percent of the federal poverty level (618-825-3263). The Illinois foreclosure timeline and the deadline calculator walk through each step.
River cities, bluff suburbs and farm towns
St. Clair County sits directly east of St. Louis in the Metro East. Belleville, the county seat, is the largest city, ahead of O'Fallon. About 68 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied, per Census estimates for 2020 to 2024.
The county breaks into three kinds of places. The older river cities in the west, like East St. Louis and Cahokia Heights, have the oldest homes and the lowest values, with May 2026 sale medians near $62,000 in Cahokia Heights. Belleville and Fairview Heights on the central bluff sit in the middle, around $144,300 for Belleville. The newer suburbs near Scott Air Force Base run highest, about $300,000 in O'Fallon and $394,700 in Shiloh. Sale counts in the smaller towns are thin, so one month can swing a lot. The eastern and southern parts of the county are more rural. Other communities include Swansea, Lebanon, Freeburg, Millstadt, Smithton, Dupo and Marissa.
What a $222,000 St. Clair County sale leaves you
Redfin put the St. Clair County median sale price at about $222,000 in May 2026, 5.3 percent lower than a year earlier, on 312 sales that took a median of 40 days and closed at 99.7 percent of list price. Here's a rough look at what comes out of $222,000 on a traditional listing:
- Agent commission at about 4.9 percent (Clever's Illinois average, updated September 2026): roughly $10,900
- Closing costs at about 1.2 percent: roughly $2,700
- State transfer tax at $0.50 per $500: about $220
- St. Clair County transfer tax at $0.25 per $500: about $110
That's roughly $13,900 before your mortgage payoff, repairs or holding costs. If the home sells subject to an existing mortgage, the unpaid balance is left out of the county transfer tax math. 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. If a deadline is pushing you, the pages on selling before a foreclosure sale and selling an inherited house lay out the options.
St. Clair County pages and Metro East neighbors
St. Clair County city guides come first, then the other Metro East counties.
- Belleville: county seat, May 2026 median near $144,300
- East St. Louis: one of the county's older river cities, across the Mississippi from St. Louis
- Madison County: borders St. Clair to the north, with its own courthouse in Edwardsville
- Monroe County: once shared the 20th Judicial Circuit with St. Clair
- Clinton County: borders St. Clair to the east
- All Illinois pages: the statewide directory of county and city pages
Sources: Census Reporter, St. Clair County profile; Census Reporter, St. Clair County real estate taxes (B25103); St. Clair County 2025 Tax Computation Reports; St. Clair County Delinquent Real Estate; St. Clair County Tax Sale; St. Clair County Taxes Sold; Illinois Courts 2023 statistical summary; 735 ILCS 5, Article XV, Mortgage Foreclosure; St. Clair County Community Services; Redfin Data Center; Clever commission survey; St. Clair County Code, Taxation
