How to Get a Real Estate License in Illinois

Illinois requires 75 hours of pre-licensing education and administers its licensing exam through PSI, with the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) overseeing the entire process. The state's real estate landscape is sharply divided: Chicago and its suburbs represent one of the country's major urban markets with prices, competition, and client expectations to match, while downstate Illinois offers a very different environment — more affordable, more relationship-driven, and often more focused on agricultural and commercial property. New agents should think carefully about which market they're entering because the required skill sets are genuinely different.