Employment and Labor Costs
Chicago has one of the most diverse economies in the United States, with no one industry sector comprising more than 14% of the economy by employment.
Chicago has the third largest workforce in the United States, with more than 200,000 jobs added over the past year.
Labor Costs
Chicago offers competitive labor costs, making it a prime environment to attract affordable talent across any industry.
Talent Pipeline
Approximately 145,000 students graduate from Chicago institutions each year, with over 450,000 enrolled.
Chicago's workforce over-indexes other large U.S. cities in breadth and cost.
Cost of living in Chicago is only 2.5% above the national average -- that's less than most major metropolitan areas on the East and West Coasts. When examining average earnings per job, Chicago ranks in the middle among MSAs, with the average worker earning over $85,000 annually. Chicago offers one of the nation’s largest workforces, driven by the lower costs of living and operating a business.
One of the largest and most diverse talent pools in the country
The Chicago MSA has over 145,000 higher-education degree completions in 2020.
We place within the top 3 MSAs for the number of master's and doctorate degrees completions.
The nation's top universities are in Chicago
Two of the Top 3 Business (MBA) Schools in the Country: University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management
Two of the Top 15 Law Schools in the Country: The Law School at the University of Chicago and The Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University
The Top Business Marketing (MBA) Program in the Country: Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management