Is Libertyville a good place to buy near Naval Station Great Lakes?
By Kyle Melvin · NMLS #1486450 · REV Mortgage · Licensed in Illinois ·
Short answer
Libertyville is the premium option for Great Lakes families: an established village twenty to thirty minutes west with a real downtown, District 70 and Libertyville High School, and housing from 1920s in-town homes to 2000s subdivisions. It costs more than anywhere else a Great Lakes commute reaches, and Lake County's property tax on a Libertyville house is a payment line of its own. For a VA buyer it is officer and senior-NCO territory where full entitlement's absence of a loan limit matters, and where the tax bill decides what BAH actually carries.
- Commute
- Base via Route 137 (Buckley Rd), 20–30 min; Metra Milwaukee North line to Chicago from downtown Libertyville
- Housing stock
- 1920s–1950s in-town; 1960s–2010s subdivisions; some new construction on the edges
- Price band
- Highest near the base; above Gurnee, well above Waukegan
Libertyville is the village families in Lake County aim for — a walkable Milwaukee Avenue downtown, a Metra station, parks along the Des Plaines River, and schools that have been the county's benchmark for a generation. It is twenty to thirty minutes west of the base, which is a longer commute than Gurnee, and it is chosen for the town, not the drive.
Who lives here and why
Officers, senior enlisted with a second income, base civilians in senior positions, and Chicago commuters who found Libertyville on the Metra map. The draw is District 70 and Libertyville High School, the downtown, and neighborhoods with mature trees and character — 1920s-to-1950s homes in town, 1960s-to-1990s subdivisions around them, and newer construction on the edges. The trade is money on two lines: the highest prices a Great Lakes commute reaches, and Lake County property tax on top of them, which on a Libertyville house is a serious monthly figure.
The commute
Twenty to thirty minutes to the base on Route 137, which is Buckley Road through Libertyville, more at shift change. The Metra Milwaukee North line runs from downtown to Chicago, which is the reason many dual-career households choose it. The Great Lakes guide maps the county by direction and covers the tax picture.
Housing stock and what the appraiser sees
Two stocks. In-town homes from the 1920s to the 1950s bring the pre-1978 paint rule, older electrical, boilers and basement moisture; the subdivisions from the 1960s on bring roofs, furnaces and sump systems at the end of their lives. Radon is common in Lake County. The east edge along the Des Plaines River is mapped floodplain, with flood insurance required and escrowed. The appraisal page covers how conditions are cleared. On the newer edges, the new-construction page covers builder requirements.
The loan angle
Libertyville is where full entitlement matters near this base: no VA loan limit and no down payment at prices that would require a jumbo structure on the conventional side. The BAH-to-payment calculator with Lake County's real rate will show that the tax line, not the price, is what limits the loan a given BAH carries. A buyer with a VA loan open elsewhere runs the second-tier calculation; at Libertyville prices a down payment can enter. Illinois's disabled-veteran exemption is on the Illinois benefits page and is worth the most on exactly this kind of tax bill.
Around Great Lakes
Local details
- Schools
- Libertyville SD 70, Community HS District 128 (verify boundaries)
- Taxes and fees
- Lake County — very high effective rates; village of Libertyville; HOAs on newer subdivisions
- Watch for
- The tax bill; older in-town homes — paint, electrical, basements; radon; Des Plaines River floodplain on the east edge
- BAH here
- Official rate by grade →
What schools serve Libertyville?
Libertyville is served by Libertyville School District 70 (K-8) and Community High School District 128 (9-12). Two districts; District 128 is d128.org. Parts of Libertyville are in neighboring K-8 districts. Attendance zones change; confirm the assigned school for a specific address with the district.
| School | Grades | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Butterfield School | PK-5 | Adler Park, Copeland Manor and Rockland are the other District 70 elementaries |
| Highland Middle School | 6-8 | |
| Libertyville High School | 9-12 | Community High School District 128 |
Performance data: the state's official school report card. This site does not publish third-party ratings; they change yearly and are not the district's own numbers.
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