$0 Down · No PMI · Veteran-Owned
VA Loans in Illinois
Illinois hosts two of the military's great training and logistics hubs — Scott Air Force Base in the Metro East, home of U.S. Transportation Command, and Naval Station Great Lakes, the Navy's only boot camp, on Lake Michigan's shore. Over half a million veterans live in Illinois, from Chicago's neighborhoods to the Metro East communities around Scott.
621K
Illinois Veterans
3
Military Installations
$0
Down Payment
$832,750
2026 Baseline Limit
Why Illinois
A VA team that knows Illinois’s military markets
The Metro East — O'Fallon, Shiloh, Belleville, Mascoutah — offers some of the best military-town value in the country: strong schools, short commutes, and prices where typical BAH covers a comfortable single-family home with $0 down.
Scott AFB's TRANSCOM and Air Mobility Command headquarters sustain a deep rotation of officers, senior NCOs, and DoD civilians through O'Fallon, Shiloh, and Belleville. Great Lakes trains every enlisted sailor in the Navy, anchoring North Chicago, Waukegan, and Gurnee, while Rock Island Arsenal's Army sustainment commands support the Quad Cities market on both sides of the Mississippi.
Beyond the Loan
More Illinois benefits you earned
The VA loan is one piece of what Illinois owes its veterans. Here’s the rest of the stack — worth real money every year:
Income Tax
Retirement untaxed
Illinois exempts all retirement income — including military retirement — from state income tax.
Education
Illinois Veteran Grant
The IVG pays tuition and fees at Illinois public colleges for eligible Illinois veterans — up to the equivalent of four academic years.
Vehicle
Plates & fees
Veteran and DV plates with reduced registration fees for qualifying disabled veterans.
Recreation
Hunting & fishing
Free licenses and reduced camping fees for qualifying disabled Illinois veterans.
Benefit rules and amounts change with each legislative session — confirm current details with the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. When you work with us, we walk through which of these apply to your purchase and your budget.
Official VA Data
Illinois VA lending, by the numbers
11,229
VA Loans Closed (FY2025)
$3.6B
VA Dollars Guaranteed (FY2025)
$317K
Average VA Loan
621,229
Veterans in IL
Illinois veterans closed 11,229 VA loans in fiscal year 2025 — 6,630 of them home purchases — and the VA paid $3.1 billion in disability compensation and pension to Illinois veterans in FY2024. Every veteran receiving that compensation is exempt from the VA funding fee.
Sources: VA Loan Guaranty loans-by-state report, FY2025 · VetPop2023 state projections (NCVAS) · VA Geographic Distribution of Expenditures, FY2024.
Bases We Serve
Military installations in Illinois
Every installation below anchors a housing market our team lends in — PCS moves, first purchases on BAH, and buy-then-rent strategies included.
2026 BAH Rates
Compare BAH across Illinois’s installations
BAH is set per housing area, not per state — and it counts as qualifying income on a VA loan. Here’s how Illinois’s duty stations compare at key pay grades.
| Installation | E-4 | E-5 | E-6 | E-7 | O-3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Air Force Base | $1,536 | $1,542 | $1,998 | $2,076 | $2,208 |
| Naval Station Great Lakes | $2,202 | $2,427 | $2,760 | $2,853 | $3,018 |
| Rock Island Arsenal | $1,722 | $1,908 | $2,238 | $2,262 | $2,298 |
2026 monthly BAH, with dependents, from official DoD (DTMO) rate data. Click any installation for all 24 pay grades, without-dependents rates, and a payment-vs-BAH estimator for that housing area.
2026 Program Facts
What the VA loan gets you in Illinois
$0 Down Payment
Buy with no down payment on loans within your entitlement — the signature VA benefit.
No PMI
VA loans never charge monthly private mortgage insurance, keeping payments lower than FHA or low-down conventional.
Competitive Rates
The VA guaranty lets lenders price VA loans below comparable conventional rates for most borrowers.
Flexible Credit
The VA sets no minimum credit score — guidelines focus on residual income and the whole picture.
Limited Closing Costs
The VA restricts which fees veterans can be charged, and sellers may pay all of them plus concessions.
Reusable for Life
VA entitlement is a lifetime benefit — it can be restored and reused, and you can hold more than one VA loan at once.
VA loan vs. conventional in Illinois
| Feature | VA Loan | Conventional |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | $0 required | 3–20% (20% to avoid PMI) |
| Monthly mortgage insurance | Never | Required under 20% down |
| Minimum credit score | None set by VA | Typically 620+ |
| Interest rates | Typically below conventional | Higher without large down payment |
| Upfront fee | Funding fee 2.15% first use (waived with disability rating) | None |
| Prepayment penalty | Never | Rare, but possible |
| Loan limit | None with full entitlement | $832,750 baseline (2026) |
| Assumable by a buyer | Yes — VA loans are assumable | Generally not |
2026 VA loan limits in Illinois
With full entitlement, the VA does not cap your loan amount — county loan limits only apply when you have reduced entitlement (an existing VA loan or a prior default). For reduced-entitlement borrowers, the 2026 baseline county limit is $832,750, and designated high-cost counties range up to $1,873,675.
The VA funding fee, plainly
- First use, under 5% down: 2.15%
- Subsequent use, under 5% down: 3.30%
- With 5% down: 1.50% · with 10% down: 1.25%
- Streamline refinance (IRRRL): 0.50%
Veterans receiving VA disability compensation at any rating are fully exempt from the funding fee, as are eligible surviving spouses and Purple Heart recipients on active duty.
Where We Lend
Illinois cities we serve
From base-gate communities to the metros veterans choose after service, these are the Illinois markets where our VA lending is most active.
- Belleville~$163K
- O'Fallon~$320K
- Shiloh~$322K
- Mascoutah~$272K
- North Chicago~$225K
- Waukegan~$248K
- Gurnee~$384K
- Rock Island~$129K
- Moline~$153K
- Chicago~$336K
- Springfield~$173K
Typical home values: Zillow Home Value Index, 2026-06.
Straight Answers
Illinois VA loan questions, answered
Is there a VA loan limit in Illinois?
Not with full entitlement. With reduced entitlement, every Illinois county uses the 2026 baseline of $832,750 — several times the typical Metro East purchase price.
Where do Scott AFB families buy?
O'Fallon and Shiloh for schools and proximity, Mascoutah for small-town value, Belleville for character homes and price. All four close VA loans constantly — this is one of the Midwest's premier VA markets.
I'm staff at Great Lakes — should I buy in Illinois or Wisconsin?
We're licensed in Illinois but not Wisconsin, so we can lend on the Illinois side — North Chicago, Waukegan, Gurnee, and Libertyville all sit within an easy commute of the base.
How bad are Illinois property taxes really?
Among the nation's highest by rate — but the disabled-veteran exemptions above erase or slash them for qualifying vets, and Metro East purchase prices are low enough that total payments stay very manageable.
Can I buy a Chicago two-flat or three-flat with a VA loan?
Yes — VA loans cover 2–4 unit properties when you occupy one unit. Chicago's classic multi-unit stock is one of the best house-hacking opportunities available to veterans anywhere.
Ready When You Are
Start your Illinois VA loan with a team that’s worn the uniform
Get a clear pre-approval, honest numbers, and a VA process handled by people who understand PCS timelines and military life firsthand.