Illinois leads the Midwest in workforce with 6.2M people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nov 2025). This makes Illinois’ employment 8% greater than Ohio, 36% greater than Michigan, and 87% greater than Indiana. Overall, Illinois employs more people than Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota combined. At the center of the nation, it’s no surprise that Illinois leads the region in talent, keeping the best workers here with leading development and education.
Illinoisans are employed by 57 Fortune 1000, 257 Inc. 5000, and more than 2,600 foreign-owned companies. These industry leaders include Abbott, ADM, Baxter, Motorola Solutions, Exelon, John Deere, Kraft Heinz, McDonalds, Mondelez, and United. As well, Illinoisians find work at the 1.4M small businesses employing 2.4M people throughout the state (US SBA).
Big or small, there is a business or career for everyone. In 2024, Illinois once again led the Midwest in business creation with 171,000 new business applications (6th most in the nation).
Top Illinois Employment by Occupation Group – 2025 Jobs
- Transportation & Material Moving: 661,000
- Management: 598,000
- Sales: 546,000
- Production: 428,000
- Business & Finance: 426,000
- Science & Engineering*: 323,000
Data sources: Lightcast (occupation groups); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (total employment)
*Science and Engineering is defined here as SOC major groups Computer and Mathematical Occupations (15-0000), Architecture and Engineering Occupations (17-0000), and Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations (19-0000).
Across these six key economic groups, Illinois employs 3M people. Transportation & Material Moving and Production jobs combined employ 1.1M people, or nearly one-sixth of all jobs in the state. In just these two occupation groups, Illinois employs about as many people as the total jobs in Nebraska.
Management, Sales, and Business & Finance jobs combined employ 1.6M people, or nearly one-fourth of all jobs in Illinois. In just these three occupation groups, Illinois employs about as many people as all the jobs in Kansas. Making up the Science & Engineering workforce of 323,000 is 188,000 people working in Computer and Mathematical jobs, 85,000 people working in Architecture and Engineering jobs, and 50,000 people working in Life, Physical, and Social Science jobs.
Illinois leads in workforce because of the right investments in development and education. According to Site Section magazine, Illinois ranks #3 in the U.S. for workforce development. Every year, more than 230 postsecondary institutions in the state graduate the skilled workforce of tomorrow. Just the University of Illinois graduates more engineers each year than MIT, Stanford, and Caltech combined. University of Chicago and Northwestern University are two of the top-10 universities in the nation. Illinois’ premier postsecondary institutions keep more than 3.4M bachelor’s degrees in the state (5th most in the nation), or 39% of the population age 25 years and over.
Illinois also has the third largest community college system in the nation with 45 community colleges and 39 college districts. These schools serve more than 550,000 residents each year in credit, noncredit, and continuing education programs (ICCB). Millions of dollars in investment support programs training the next generation of workers:
- Heartland Community College — The Electric Vehicle – Energy Storage (EVES) Manufacturing Training Academy (MTA) is a first of its kind center for EV and battery storage training
- Richland Community College — The Clean Energy Workforce Academy will offer advanced training in collaboration with TCCI
- Southwestern Illinois College — The Advanced Manufacturing Academy is a cutting-edge regional hub supporting sustainable, high-skilled manufacturing
Another $24M in support for six new manufacturing training academies in Illinois’ downstate regions was just announced by Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) earlier this year (GO).
Illinois, with 6.2M in total employment, is the powerhouse of the Midwest, driving national economic growth from the center of the country. The best workers stay in Illinois because of education and opportunity. Businesses choose Illinois to hire this talent.
To learn more, get in touch with our team today.
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