A YouGov poll conducted last month shows Illinois registered voters overwhelmingly believe that the cost of renting and buying a home is a problem in Illinois, think that there aren’t enough affordable homes for average folks and want the state legislature to take action.
The poll of 806 Illinois registered voters was taken March 1-9 and has a margin of error of +/-3.8 percent. The survey was conducted on behalf of YIMBY Illinois, a nonprofit which “advocates for abundant housing and sustainable, inclusive cities throughout Illinois.” But, the questions look legit and the poll even tests some opposing arguments, although no questions about our high property taxes were asked.
The poll was released as Gov. JB Pritzker and others are pushing a plan to build “missing middle” residences, including multi-family developments and “granny flats” throughout the state. But proponents must overcome strong opposition from many municipal governments which do not want to give up their control of local zoning.
Eighty-four percent of those polled said the cost of renting or buying a home was a “major problem” (47 percent) or “somewhat a problem” (37 percent). That majority held up in every state region and demographic. Even 76 percent of those who approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance said it’s a problem (39 percent major, 37 percent somewhat, with 17 percent saying it’s a minor or not really a problem). Just a reminder that subsets have a higher margin of error than the overall survey.
Another 67 percent of respondents said Illinois does not have “enough homes that are affordable for average people to buy or rent,” while 18 percent said there were enough and 16 percent weren’t sure or didn’t know. Again, every region and demographic agreed with the position, including 54 percent of Trump approvers.
A sizable 82 percent said state legislators should “take action” to address the housing shortage and costs of housing in the state (49 percent strongly agreed and 33 percent somewhat agreed). Even 68 percent of Trump supporters either strongly (35) or somewhat (33) agreed, while just 20 percent disagreed (8 percent strongly).
Voters were somewhat split when asked to rate their city or town’s efforts to keep housing affordable, with 47 percent rating it positively, including 3 percent “very good,” 11 percent “good” and 33 percent “acceptable.” Another 40 percent rated it negatively, with 10 percent saying it’s “very poor” and 30 percent calling it “poor.” Those results were roughly similar throughout regions and all other demographics.
Perhaps the most surprising result was when voters were asked, “even if it isn’t exactly right,” which of the following came closer to their opinions: 61 percent said it was “more important to build more homes in my neighborhood so that people who work in my community can afford to live here, than it is to protect the neighborhood from change,” while 27 percent said it’s “more important to protect my neighborhood from change than it is to build more homes that working people can afford.” Even a plurality of 47 percent of Trump supporters agreed with building more homes in their communities so people could afford to live where they work, while 40 percent said protecting their neighborhood from change was more important.
Sixty-five percent said they agreed that “Building more affordable housing is more important for Illinois,” and 27 percent said “Protecting the character of neighborhoods from change is more important for Illinois” was closer to their opinion.
And despite a plurality narrowly approving of their local governments’ ability to keep housing affordable, 65 percent (including 57 percent of Trump supporters) said “Illinois state legislators should prioritize building more homes and bringing down housing costs,” while just 18 percent said “Illinois state legislators should prioritize preserving the power city governments have over what types of homes can be built and where.” Another 17 percent were unsure.
The poll also tested various ways of building more affordable housing and all had majority support, although all had more “somewhat” support than “strong” support.
Sixty-three percent supported allowing construction of “granny flats” or other accessory dwelling units. 69 percent supported building townhomes and small apartment buildings “on all residential lots.” 66 percent said they supported allowing homes to be built on lots that are just 1,500 square feet. 74 percent said faith groups should be allowed to build low-income housing.
While the numbers don’t show voters want to give the state carte blanche, these results are much more positive than many Statehouse types probably expected.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
This article appears in April 2-8, 2026.
