Olney, Illinois.
Typical home $138,359 (+8.0% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$344 (+90%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $10,225 +8%
- $128,134$138,359 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $26,268 +23%
- $112,091$138,359 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Olney$726
- Illinois$1,553
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 16 years.
Typical home values in Olney, IL rose 8.0% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Olney, Richland County, Illinois
Olney is a city of 8,701 people in Richland County. Half its households earn more than $59,980 a year and half less, against $62,455 across Richland County; 14% of its people live below the poverty line. 65% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 35% are rented. Unemployment in Richland County was 3.4% in August 2026, and the county had 1.8% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Olney is a small city in Richland County, Illinois, with a median age somewhat above what many younger-skewing towns see. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and typical home values are modest. Incomes run a little below the county's, and a good number of residents live below the poverty line. Winters are cold, with some snow, and summers turn properly warm, with plenty of rain and melted snow across the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with manufacturing, shops, and transport and warehousing also employing a good share. Among the largest workplaces in Olney are Richland Memorial Hospital, Richland County CUSD 1 and Walmart. The typical commute is short, and few people work from home. Across Richland County, unemployment is lower than a year ago, though the county has fewer jobs than it did the year before.
Things to do. Outdoor places are a longer drive away. Red Hills State Park is a protected area, and Newton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area is another, for those who like open country and water. For a look at the past, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park is a museum, also a longer drive away. The White River is the best known of the rivers in the area.
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- 3,599households
- 21%of adults have a degree
- 14%below the poverty line
- 17 mintypical commute
- 5%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Richland County had 5,731 jobs in 2025, 1.8% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 38° and lows near 21°; warmest in July, with highs near 87° and lows near 66°. About 10 inches of snow and 49 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Olney 2S weather station, 2 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Olney
- Richland Memorial HospitalGeneral hospital317FTE
- Richland County CUSD 1School district314FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters247
- Olney Central CollegeTwo-year college119
- Prairie Farms OlneyMilk processing manufacturing110
- Illinois Eastern Community College-System OfficeTwo-year college92
- Richland Nursing and RehabHomes for the aged with nursing care82
- UPSCouriers and express delivery services77
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 13 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 917 people in all. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023), school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and colleges from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- EarthquakesRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- Heat wavesrelatively high in parts of OlneyRelatively moderate
- HailRelatively moderate
- Tornadoesrelatively high in parts of OlneyRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Olney’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Richland County.
Olney home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Olney$138,359
- Illinois$295,943
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Olney listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Olney27.64%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Olney34
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Olney12
Zip codes with a Olney address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Olney — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.