Ranked the #1 metro in the United States for corporate expansion and relocation total projects for 13 years in a row, Chicagoland is Illinois’ largest metropolitan area, attracting businesses from around the globe. The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area (Chicagoland) is home to over 9.3M people (Census Bureau), a labor force of over 4.9M people (BLS), and an annual economic output of over $900B (BEA).
The City of Chicago itself is home to Consulates, Consulates General, and Honorary Consulates from more than 80 countries, two top-5 business schools in the nation (Northwestern Kellogg and Chicago Booth), and the #1 most connected airport in the nation (O’Hare International Airport). Beyond the metro’s core city, the Illinois counties that make up Chicagoland—Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will—combined account for 68% of Illinois’ population and 71% of the labor force.
Key Industries in Chicagoland – 2025 Jobs
- Advanced Manufacturing – 335,000
- Finance & Insurance – 241,000
- Life Sciences – 542,000
- Next-Gen Agriculture, Agtech & Food Processing – 99,000
- TDL – 429,000
Production Occupations Employment Concentration by Metro – 2025
- Chicago – 1.15 (294,000 jobs)
- Houston – 0.95 (184,000 jobs)
- Miami – 0.55 (93,000 jobs)
- Atlanta – 0.84 (142,000 jobs)
- Phoenix – 0.74 (102,000 jobs)
- Boston – 0.67 (105,000 jobs)
- San Francisco – 0.60 (84,000 jobs)
Employment concentration (or location quotient) is a measure of a region’s workforce specialization relative to a larger geographical unit (here the United States). Thus, an employment concentration of 1.15 means that the region is 15% more concentrated than the national average in that type of employment.
Data source: Lightcast 2026
Across all these vital industry groups—Advanced Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, Life Sciences, Next-Gen Agriculture, Agtech & Food Processing, and TDL—Chicagoland has more workers than the Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, Boston, or San Francisco metro areas. In addition, Chicagoland has a production occupations employment concentration 15% above the national average—the only one above average of those listed. Below is a comparison of Chicagoland to the other metros in each industry group:
- Advanced Manufacturing: nearly 50% larger than Houston; more than double Atlanta, Boston, Phoenix, or San Francisco; and more than triple Miami
- Finance & Insurance: more than double Houston or San Francisco
- Life Sciences: 13% larger than Boston; 75% larger than Miami; and 82% larger than San Francisco
- Next-Gen Agriculture, Agtech & Food Processing: 123% larger than Atlanta and 190% larger than Houston
- TDL: larger than Miami and Boston combined
Of these metro areas, Chicagoland’s production occupations workforce is 60% larger than Houston’s, 107% larger than Atlanta’s, 180% larger than Boston’s, 187% larger than Phoenix’s, 215% larger than Miami’s, and 251% larger than San Francisco’s. Chicagoland employs more people in production occupations (293,000 jobs) than the Phoenix, Miami, and San Francisco metros do combined (279,000 jobs).
Chicagoland, maintaining both a large employment in key industries and a concentrated production workforce, is a top global metro for business at every stage from R&D to commercialization. Access to Chicagoland is another reason Illinois is the top choice for companies looking to move or expand.
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