The North Shore's Largest Inland Village
The Potawatomi people under Chief Shabbona were the earliest recorded residents of the area before ceding their land in 1833. European settlement followed quickly. Joel Sterling Sherman purchased 159 acres in what is now Northbrook’s central business district for $1.25 per acre, and the area took his family name. By the 1870s, the region had become a farm town with well-established brick yards that prospered during the rebuilding that followed the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Brick produced in Northbrook helped rebuild Chicago, and the industry anchored the local economy for decades.
The town was incorporated in 1901 as Shermerville, named for Frederick Schermer who donated the land for its first railroad station. The name carried a reputation that residents eventually found limiting. By 1921, a naming contest was held, and Edward Landwehr submitted Northbrook, a reference to the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River that runs through the village. The new name was adopted on January 8, 1923, with a population of roughly 500.
The postwar decades transformed Northbrook from a small farm town into a substantial suburb. The population grew from 3,319 in 1950 to 30,735 by 1980, driven by new subdivisions, the extension of water infrastructure from Lake Michigan, and the Edens Expressway corridor that made the community highly accessible. The village became increasingly corporate as well: companies including Kraft Foods, Allstate Insurance, and various pharmaceutical and technology firms established significant operations here. Kraft’s former headquarters campus now houses Medline Industries, one of the village’s largest employers. Chicago Executive Airport, a general aviation facility, operates just west of the village and serves business travel for the corporate corridor.
In January 1997, President Clinton visited Glenbrook North High School to commend a consortium of Chicago suburban school districts for their eighth-grade students’ results in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, where Northbrook-area students ranked among the world’s highest performers. The visit put Northbrook on the national education map in a way that reinforced what local families already knew.
Living in Northbrook
Northbrook’s housing stock is the most varied in this guide series by type, price range, and era of construction, reflecting its size, its decades of postwar development, and its position as a more accessible entry point into the North Shore school corridor.
Single-family detached homes dominate, accounting for the majority of units, and they span nearly every style and era. Ranch homes and split-levels from the 1950s and 1960s fill large sections of the older neighborhoods closest to downtown. Colonial Revivals and larger custom homes from the 1970s through 1990s populate the neighborhoods to the north and west. Newer construction and teardown rebuilds are visible throughout. But unlike most North Shore communities, Northbrook also has meaningful attached housing, including condominiums, townhomes, and apartment buildings, particularly in the downtown area and near Northbrook Court. This range gives Northbrook one of the widest buyer pools of any community on the corridor, from entry-level condo buyers to move-up single-family buyers and beyond.
The market data for Northbrook reflects both its size and its more accessible position within the North Shore price spectrum. Movoto data shows a September 2025 median sold price of $647,000, with 156 homes sold that month. Rocket Homes data from June 2025 showed a median list price of $625,000, up 6.1 percent year-over-year. Redfin’s city-level data places the median closer to $610,000 to $680,000 depending on the measurement period. The DePaul Institute for Housing Studies places Northbrook in the Winnetka/Northbrook submarket, where the median sale price for single-family homes was approaching $800,000 in its Q2 2025 data. Year-over-year appreciation has run around 3 to 5 percent in stabilized periods, consistent with the broader suburban Cook County trend. The market has been a seller’s market with homes receiving an average of four offers and selling in approximately 26 to 47 days depending on the period and property type.
The meaningful takeaway for buyers: Northbrook delivers strong schools, extensive parkland, excellent highway and Metra access, and a complete commercial infrastructure at a median price point that is roughly half of Winnetka and Glencoe and substantially below the lakefront communities to the east. For buyers who prioritize school quality and community amenities over lakefront proximity, Northbrook often represents the best value equation on the entire North Shore corridor.
Northbrook is served by Metra’s Milwaukee District North Line, which stops at the Northbrook station on Shermer Road in the heart of downtown, providing daily service to Chicago’s Union Station. The commute runs approximately 40 to 50 minutes. A second Metra stop at Lake Cook Road, just north of the village border in Deerfield, serves northern sections. Interstate 94 (Edens Expressway) runs along the village’s eastern edge, and I-294 (Tri-State Tollway) along the western edge, giving Northbrook among the best highway access of any North Shore community. O’Hare International Airport is approximately 17 miles southwest via I-294, and Chicago Executive Airport operates just outside the village’s western border for general aviation.
Businesses and Local Life
Northbrook has a complete commercial infrastructure that most communities in this guide do not. It has a traditional downtown, a regional mall, a significant corporate employment base, and a Park District that operates at a scale few suburbs of any size can match.
The downtown central business district along Shermer Road and Cherry Lane anchors the village’s walkable commercial core. The Metra station sits at its center, and the blocks around it hold restaurants, retail, professional services, and the civic institutions that define daily community life. The downtown has been through multiple revitalization efforts over the years, and the current street level offers a mix of independent and small-chain dining, coffee, and specialty retail.
Northbrook Court, which opened in 1976 on Lake Cook Road, is a regional shopping center that has faced the same structural retail pressures as enclosed malls across the country. Occupancy has declined from peak levels, but it continues to provide convenient access to national retailers, restaurants, and an AMC movie theater, and the village has been active in planning conversations about its long-term redevelopment potential.
The Northbrook Park District is the village’s most impressive civic institution. The 17.25-square-mile district operates 23 parks with more than 500 acres of parkland, two 18-hole golf courses at Heritage Oaks Golf Club, two outdoor aquatic centers including Meadowhill Aquatic Center, indoor ice rinks, the Techny Prairie Activity Center with fitness and recreation programming, a community theater, a senior center, tennis facilities, and the Ed Rudolph Velodrome at Meadowhill Park, a quarter-mile outdoor banked cycling track that hosts bicycle races, special events, and youth cycling programs, one of a very small number of permanent velodromes in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Techny Prairie Park and Fields covers 113 acres of natural prairie landscape, athletic fields, and trails. Wood Oaks Green Park features Lake Shermerville, a scenic body of water with fishing access and trails. The River Trail Nature Center, operated by the Forest Preserves of Cook County at 3120 Milwaukee Avenue, provides environmental education and trail access through forest preserve land adjacent to the village. The Skokie Valley Trail passes through Northbrook, connecting to the broader regional trail network. The Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Northbrook as a Tree City USA community every year since 1994.
The annual Fourth of July celebration draws thousands of residents. The Northbrook Farmers Market runs Wednesdays from June through October at Meadow Plaza, with fresh produce, baked goods, artisan products, and live music. The Northbrook Cultural Fair in February showcases visual and performing arts, dance, international food, and community organizations in a free event organized by the Village’s Community Commission and the North Suburban YMCA. The Northbrook Historical Society and History Museum, housed in a transplanted 19th-century inn near the Village Green, preserves the community’s story from German farming settlement through its transformation into a major North Shore suburb.
The Chicago Curling Club, one of the oldest and most active curling organizations in the Midwest, is headquartered in Northbrook and operates an active competitive and recreational program. The Northbrook Sports Center provides additional indoor recreation including gymnastics, volleyball, and fitness programming throughout the year.
Northbrook is the North Shore community that offers the most complete package of civic infrastructure at the most accessible price point. The schools are excellent at every level. The Park District operates facilities that most villages three times its size would envy. The highway and rail access are among the best on the corridor. And the housing range, from condominiums in the $300,000s to custom single-family homes well above $1 million, means the village can serve buyers at almost every stage of their real estate journey. For buyers who want the North Shore school quality and community investment without the lakefront premium, Northbrook is the strongest case.
Ready to explore homes for sale in Northbrook? Browse current listings below, or reach out to discuss what’s available and what fits your goals.
Schools In The Area
News and Advice
Read helpful resources and articles related to the area.
The Tax Nobody Mentions Until the Week of …
You've done the hard part. You found the place. You negotiated the price. Your mortgage is…
Selling Your Chicago Home: Strategies for Success in …
Getting ready to sell your Chicago home? If you are feeling overwhelmed by shifting market trends…
The Modern Luxury Real Estate Agent: Navigating Chicago …
What if your choice of a luxury real estate agent had more to do with your…