In court-decided eviction outcomes for Cary, IL, tenants prevail in roughly 37.0% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses, longer calendars, and more required documentation, and landlord-friendliness drops as this rises.
Timeline
126d
filing → judgment
From the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Cary, IL until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 126 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent and higher carry costs for landlords.
Cost range
$4.8-14.7k
legal + lost rent
A typical eviction in Cary, IL costs landlords $4,799 to $14,678 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent during the calendar between filing and possession.
Average rent
$1,428
35% stretched on rent
Average gross rent in Cary, IL is $1,428 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey (5-year 2023). 35% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent, the federal cost-burden threshold.
Renters
15.2%
of households
15.2% of occupied housing units in Cary, IL are renter-occupied (vs owner-occupied). A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings, more turnover, and a more active rental market.
Poverty
4.6%
5.1% unemp.
4.6% of Cary, IL residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 5.1%. Both feed into the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model because rent payment problems track poverty + joblessness more reliably than any other single signal.
Time machine
Scrub 50 years
197619861996200620162026
2026
● LIVE · today◀ REPLAY · historical
Nine-axis profile
9-axis profile · today
Shape of the risk surface
1 landlord · 10 tenant
Sub-scores · with sparkline
Where the score comes from
1 → 10 scale
Local political climate
GOP margin +5.3% (2024)
5.4
Regional political climate
County-weighted neighbor mix
5.4
State political climate
Illinois legislature & governorship
5.2
Economic stress
4.6% poverty · 5.1% unemp.
4.9
Supply constraint
$1,428 average · 15.2% renters
5.9
Rent Control risk
35.1% of income on rent
8.6
Eviction process difficulty
126 days filing → judgment
5.3
Tenant organizing strength
15.2% renters
3.6
Housing court bias
County bench composition
5.8
Geographic context
Risk heat across Cary and the region
Click any city to see its score
How Cary compares
Risk score vs. peers, county, state, and the U.S.
Rank in McHenry County
Elevated
#15of 42 cities
#15 of 42 cities in McHenry County for landlord eviction risk.
Rank in Illinois
Elevated
#454of 1,456 cities
#454 of 1,456 cities in Illinois for landlord eviction risk.
vs. county · state · U.S.
Score story
Six-stop tour of the risk profile
4.7
/ 10 · MODERATE
The verdict
A Moderate-tier market.
Composite 4.7/10. Mid-range market; standard documentation usually wins. The 50-year curve shows a sharp climb.
50-yr trend+3.2 over 50 yr
197620012026
Steepening since 2010 · COVID inflection visible
126d
Typical timeline
The money
What renting (and evicting) looks like.
Rent published at $1,428/mo. A contested eviction takes 126 days and costs $4,799-$14,678 per case.
50-yr trendCalendar drag rising since '15
197620012026
Court-clerk data lands in the next release.
15.2%
Renters
The renters
Who you'll be renting to.
Out of 17,923 residents, 15.2% rent. 35% are spending 30%+ income on rent, 4.6% below the poverty line.
50-yr trendRenter share rising
197620012026
ACS 1970-present · once the migration overlay is in.
5.4
Local + regional
The politics
Mid-range climate. Not a coastal market.
Local & regional political climate score 5.4 and 5.4 (GOP margin +5.3% (2024)). State climate at 5.2, a mid-range statehouse.
50-yr trendTracks county vote margin
197620012026
Built on 50-yr presidential margins back to 1976.
5.2
State politics
The process
Moderate calendar, moderate friction.
State political climate 5.2/10 sets the legislative ceiling for landlord remedies, and it shows up in the process. Eviction process difficulty reads 5.3, housing court bias 5.8, rent-control risk 8.6. Standard process speed for the state.
50-yr trendProcess difficulty +0.3 since '00
197620012026
Court-clerk data lands in the next release.
4.9
Economic stress
The stress
Economic pressure is the background risk.
Economic stress: 4.9. Supply constraint: 5.9. The numbers behind those: 4.6% poverty, 5.1% unemployment, 35% of income on rent.
50-yr trendTwo visible dips · '08 + COVID
197620012026
Mirrors BLS unemployment series.
US eviction landscape · timeline × all-in cost
Cary sits in the slow & expensive quadrant
Bubble size = population · color = risk score
Cary · 126d · ~$9.7k all-in ($77/day) · score 4.7National average: 58d · $4.6k all-inHover any bubble for stats · click to openColor: 0-4 4-7 7-10
Landlording in Cary, Illinois, presents a manageable operating environment for documented landlords. The Eviction Risk Score is 4.7/10 (MODERATE tier), drawn from the nine sub-axes shown above, covering rent-control exposure, eviction-process difficulty, housing-court bias, tenant-organizing strength, supply constraint, economic stress, and local, regional, and state political climate. This is not a quick-fix market: it's a Mid-tier market where lease drafting, screening discipline, and well-documented notices materially change outcomes.
Cary is a city of 17,923 residents where 15.2% of occupied units are renter-occupied, and the typical renter spends 35.1% of income on rent. At an average rent of $1,428/month, the typical renter household here spends more than the federal 30% threshold on housing, a leading indicator of payment volatility and a precondition for the kinds of tenant defenses that show up most often in housing court.
01Process
How Cary eviction process actually works
Eviction process difficulty here reads 5.3/10, a number that combines statutory complexity (notice categories, just-cause rules, mandatory pre-filing disclosures) with operational realities (court calendar length and clerk responsiveness). The typical contested filing in Cary closes 126 days after the initial notice. For non-payment of rent the first step is a properly-formatted, properly-served pay-or-quit notice; for material lease breaches it's a cure-or-quit; for tenancies under just-cause protection an at-fault grounds notice (or a no-fault notice with statutory relocation assistance) is required.
The slow part of Cary's timeline is usually the calendar, not the motion practice. Housing court bias scores 5.8/10 here, meaning judges read borderline procedural defects in the tenant's favor more often than the national norm. The practical implication: every notice and every proof of service needs to be airtight before it gets filed.
02Cost
What it costs (and how long it takes)
An all-in eviction in Cary runs $4,799 to $14,678 per case once you account for filing fees, attorney time, lost rent during pendency, sheriff lockout, and unit turnover. That range is wide because the upper bound assumes a tenant answer plus motion practice, common when housing court bias is high. The lower bound assumes a default judgment after proper service.
For landlords running the numbers on holding costs vs. cash-for-keys: if your projected timeline times your monthly rent already exceeds the high-end cost number, cash-for-keys at 1-2 months' rent is typically the economically rational choice. With 126 days of typical timeline and $1,428/month in lost rent, that crossover happens fast here.
03Operations
Security deposits, screening, and lease terms
Tenant organizing strength scores 3.6/10 in Cary, and the city sits at the top of the rent control risk spectrum (8.6/10). Operations practice that survives audit in this environment looks like:
Screening discipline. Document income (verified at 2.5 to 3x rent), credit (with a clear minimum), and prior-tenancy reference checks, but do not screen on protected categories or source-of-income where banned. Keep a written, consistent screening criteria document for every applicant.
Lease specificity. Use a state-specific lease that names every term clearly: rent due date, late fees within statutory caps, deposit handling, smoke and CO disclosure, lead paint disclosure (pre-1978 stock), and a clean attorney's-fees clause.
Security deposit handling. Itemize deductions within the statutory window. Photograph move-in/move-out condition. In Illinois, deposit cap and refund window are statute, so exceed them at your own risk.
Mid-tenancy documentation. Keep date-stamped records of every rent receipt, every habitability request, every notice served. The day you need them in court is too late to start.
04Strategy
What an everyday landlord should actually do here
If you own one to four units in Cary: hire a property manager who knows the local court. The pricing differential between self-managing and hiring out is small relative to the cost of one botched eviction in a MODERATE tier market. If you own five or more: build relationships with a local landlord-side attorney before you need one, since retainer fees are negligible compared to emergency-rate billing when an eviction is already moving.
The avoidable mistakes here are all upstream of the filing: weak screening, an informal lease, sloppy rent receipts, and notice templates pulled off the internet that don't match Illinois's statutory language. Fix those four, and most cases settle or default. Skip them, and a $14,678 all-in fight is the realistic worst case.
04bPractical traps
Local traps to avoid in Cary
Trap · PRACTICAL TRAP
Cost-versus-timeline trade-off: at 126 days and roughly $14,678 on the high end, cash-for-keys at $5,871 to $8,806 typically beats the legal route for non-aggravated cases. Default judgment frequency is high under ILCS preemption + Chicago RLTO.
05FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Q1
Can I evict a tenant in Cary, IL without a reason?
No, not entirely. While Illinois doesn't have statewide "just-cause" eviction, you still need a legal reason. For a month-to-month tenancy, you can terminate with a 30-day notice without stating a specific "fault" of the tenant (often called a "no-cause" termination). For a fixed-term lease, you need a lease violation (like non-payment or property damage) to evict before the lease expires. You can't just kick someone out because you feel like it.
Q2
What if my tenant pays part of the rent after I give them a 5-day notice?
Be very careful here. Accepting a partial payment after a 5-day pay-or-quit notice typically "waives" your right to proceed with that specific notice, meaning you have to issue a new notice and start the clock over. This is a common mistake. If you accept partial payment, get a written agreement that it's not a waiver and the remaining balance is still due, or better yet, don't accept partial payments unless you're prepared to restart the eviction process.
Q3
How long does it take for the sheriff to actually remove a tenant after I get a court order?
Once you have an Order for Possession, you need to contact the McHenry County Sheriff's office to schedule the physical lockout. This isn't immediate. It can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the Sheriff's caseload. Plan for this delay; it's part of the 126-day average timeline.
Q4
Can I require a tenant to pay first and last month's rent plus a security deposit in Cary?
Illinois law doesn't cap security deposits, so you technically could require a significant upfront payment like first month's rent, last month's rent, and a security deposit. However, be mindful of what the market will bear and if it makes your property less competitive. Remember, all security deposit rules (like the 30-day return deadline) still apply to any money designated as a security deposit.
Q5
What are the biggest risks for landlords in Cary, IL?
The biggest risks are the high costs and long timelines of eviction (average 126 days, $4,799-$14,678). Also, Illinois has statewide source-of-income protection, which means you must accept tenants using vouchers if they meet your other screening criteria. The "elevated" risk score (5.5/10) means you can't be complacent. You need to be diligent in screening, have a solid lease, and act quickly and correctly if an eviction becomes necessary. Check out the McHenry County eviction guide for more local insights.
A 4.7/10 places Cary in the 69th percentile of Illinois cities on the Eviction Risk Score index. The score is the average of the nine sub-axes, all calibrated on a national 1 to 10 scale where 1 is most landlord-friendly and 10 is most tenant-protective. The 50-year reconstruction shows this score has risen sharply since 1976, a structural drift driven by court-calendar growth, rent-control adoption, and the rise of tenant-side legal aid. The trajectory matters more than the snapshot: the score is the climate, not the weather.
Neighborhoods in Cary (1 with eviction-risk data)
Click a neighborhood to see its pop-weighted score, constituent census tracts, and demographics. Sorted by population.
