Illinois
Illinois has a tiered Disabled Veterans Standard Homestead Exemption that reduces assessed value by $2,500 to $5,000 for ratings under 70 percent, and fully exempts the homestead from property tax for veterans rated 70 percent or higher. Free hunting and fishing licenses are available for veterans rated 10 percent or higher. Illinois Veterans Grant pays full tuition at all state universities and community colleges for qualifying veterans.
Illinois Department of Veterans AffairsProperty tax exemption
Disabled Veterans Standard Homestead Exemption reduces assessed value by $2,500 (30 to 49 percent rating), $5,000 (50 to 69 percent), or fully exempts the homestead (70 percent or higher).
| Rating tier | Exemption |
|---|---|
| 30 to 49 percent | $2,500 reduction in assessed value |
| 50 to 69 percent | $5,000 reduction in assessed value |
| 70 percent or higher | Full homestead exemption |
State income tax
Illinois does not tax VA disability compensation, and it does not tax military retirement pay (Illinois exempts federally taxed retirement income, including military pensions).
Disabled veteran plates & registration
Illinois issues the first set of Disabled Veteran or ISERVE (50%+ service-connected) plates with no plate fee and no registration fee for qualified veterans; standard fees apply to additional vehicles.
Public employment preference
Illinois gives honorably discharged wartime veterans preference in state hiring, and adds 10 points to the exam score of veterans with a 30% or greater compensable service-connected disability.
In state tuition
Under 38 USC 3679(c) (originally Section 702 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act), every public college that accepts Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill students must charge in state tuition to covered students using their GI Bill, regardless of state residency. The old requirement to enroll within 3 years of separation was removed by the Isakson and Roe Act effective August 1, 2021, so there is no longer a time limit after discharge. State specific extensions to this rule are noted below where applicable. The Illinois Veterans Grant (IVG) pays tuition and fees at any Illinois public university or community college for qualifying veterans who entered service from Illinois.
Dependent / survivor education
Illinois' POW/MIA Scholarship pays tuition and fees for up to four years at state schools for the dependents of veterans who died or were disabled as POW/MIA, plus a $250 education grant for each qualifying child (ages 10-18).
Hunting and fishing license
Free Illinois resident fishing license; reduced fee hunting licenses.
State park entrance
Free admission to Illinois state parks; reduced camping fees.
Camping & recreation
Illinois resident veterans rated 100% service-connected (and former POWs or those with loss / loss of use of a limb) receive a lifetime waiver of camping fees at Illinois state parks.
Veterans cemetery & burial
Eligible Illinois veterans may be buried at the VA national cemeteries in Illinois (such as Abraham Lincoln National in Elwood and Camp Butler in Springfield) at no cost; the IDVA, which also runs state Veterans' Homes, can help confirm eligibility.
Illinois ranks 34 of 51 for rural veterans' access to accredited help: 10.96 accredited representatives per 10,000 veterans, with 17.7 percent of its veterans living rural.
Email me the Illinois benefit checklist
A clean, printable checklist of every Illinois benefit on this page - with the eligibility threshold and official source for each - sent straight to your inbox.
State legislatures revise thresholds and dollar amounts every session. The figures above are sourced from the state agency that administers each program, but the latest year is the state's word, not ours. Before you file an application, click the source link in each section and verify the current threshold.
Writing about Illinois veteran benefits? You are welcome to reference this guide. Copy the citation below and link back so your readers can verify each program against the state source, or download the benefits table.
Developers: this record is available as structured data VBD:STATE:IL