Chicago, IL Economic Overview
The City of Chicago - also known as the Windy City, the Second City and the City of Big Shoulders - is located along the shores of Lake Michigan and is home to nearly 3 million people, making it the third largest city in the U.S. Add to this the 7 million people that live in the suburbs and you've got an entire MSA ('Chicagoland' to the locals) of about 10 million residents. Chicagoland is a major business hub for almost any business you can think of - transportation, finance, manufacturing, technology, telecommunications, health care, education and more - all contributing to the area's gross annual product of over $640 billion. The Chicago commercial real estate market’s key to success is its diversity.
The Chicago metropolitan business area is the third largest in the U.S. and is recognized as one of the world’s premier business destinations. The area's labor pool of nearly 4.5 million workers support its diverse economy. Chicago is a major world financial center and home to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Chase Bank’s commercial and retail banking headquarters. The city also houses 12 Fortune Global 500 companies, 17 Financial Times 500 companies, and a multitude of businesses in the retail, convention, medical, transportation, food processing, manufacturing, printing and publishing industries.
Chicago, IL Commercial Real Estate Market
Thanks to the city's multi-faceted transportation systems Chicago's business districts are varied and widespread. Also known as The Loop or Downtown, the central business district (CBD) itself consists of five sub-districts: CBD Central Loop, CBD East Loop, CBD West Loop, CBD South Loop, CBD North Michigan Avenue and CBD River North. Outside of the city-proper there are the suburban Chicago business districts of the East-West Corridor with Austin, North Chicago, South Chicago, North Suburban, Northwest Suburban, South Suburban, O'Hare, West Cook County and–while technically not in Illinois but still considered part of the Chicagoland area–the suburban business districts of Kenosha and Indiana. The Loop and suburban business districts combined encompass 450 million square feet of office space, 500 million square feet of retail space and 1.1 billion square feet of industrial space. Chicago is a major global distribution hub and is one of the major transportation hubs in the U.S. With its combination of expressways, regional and local mass transit systems, passenger and freight rail, multiple airports and the Port Authority, the city has become the third-largest intermodal port in the world, after Hong Kong and Singapore. Notable businesses with a significant presence in the Chicagoland area include Boeing, Kraft Foods, McDonalds, Caterpillar, Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International, Archer Daniels Midland, General Electric, Walgreens and Ace Hardware.
Chicago, IL Office Sales Volume
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Chicago, IL Office Transactions
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Chicago, IL Commercial Inventory Breakdown
Office Spaces
Total: 226,763,655 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 12,461,152 SF / 5.5% of total office
- 100k to 500k SF: 58,049,001 SF / 25.6% of total office
- 500k to 1M SF: 62,255,035 SF / 27.45% of total office
- > 1M SF: 93,998,467 SF / 41.45% of total office
By class:
- Class A+: 36,960,350 SF / 16.3% of total office
- Class A: 97,459,540 SF / 42.98% of total office
- Class B: 49,245,173 SF / 21.72% of total office
- Class C: 1,709,155 SF / 0.75% of total office
Industrial
Total: 113,575,687 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 11,717,655 SF / 10.32% of total industrial
- 100k to 500k SF: 69,403,726 SF / 61.11% of total industrial
- 500k to 1M SF: 15,767,307 SF / 13.88% of total industrial
- > 1M SF: 16,686,999 SF / 14.69% of total industrial
By class:
- Class A: 19,193,474 SF / 16.9% of total industrial
- Class B: 84,308,587 SF / 74.23% of total industrial
- Class C: 7,711,549 SF / 6.79% of total industrial
Office Spaces with Retail
Total: 12,382,134 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 3,318,377 SF / 26.8% of total office with retail
- 100k to 500k SF: 7,851,554 SF / 63.41% of total office with retail
- 500k to 1M SF: 1,212,203 SF / 9.79% of total office with retail
Employment in Chicago, IL
Total employment in the Chicago MSA is nearly 4.5 million workers and is the third-largest labor pool in the U.S. Chicago's waterfront location along Lake Michigan, renowned public facilities such as Grant Park, the Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier, championship sports teams such as the Chicago Cubs, the White Sox and the Chicago Bears, and countless theaters and clubs renowned for blues, jazz, ballet and symphony explain why the City of Chicago has no problem attracting an educated employment base that lives, works and plays here.
Major employment sectors in Chicago include:
- Financial services - The city is home to the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, and is headquarters for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
- Health services - Baxter International, Abbott Laboratories and GE Healthcare all have their headquarters in the MSA. The Chicago metropolitan area has several highly-ranked hospitals including Rush University Medical Center and the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago; and the country's premier academic medical centers of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center. Medical associations based in Chicago include the American Medical Association, American Dental Association, American College of Surgeons and the American Hospital Association.
- Manufacturing, Transportation and Food Processing - United Airlines, Boeing, Kraft Foods, McDonalds, Caterpillar Inc., ThyssenKrupp, Archer Daniels Midland and Armour and Company all call the Chicagoland area home.
- Retail - From its very beginning Chicago has been a nexus of retail development. Walgreens, Ace Hardware, ULTA Beauty and Crate & Barrel are all based in Chicago.
Chicagoland's diverse mixture of business combined with its world-renowned mass transit systems and reputation as a regional, national and international business hub help to ensure that the demand for commercial space in Chicago and residential housing grow year after year.
Education in Chicago, IL
The Chicago Public School system is made up of over 600 primary and secondary schools, and 11 selective admission magnet schools. Complementing the public system are faith-based and secular schools including the Latin School of Chicago, the Francis W. Parker School in Lincoln Park and the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Hyde Park.
For over 150 years, Chicago has been recognized worldwide as a leading center of post-secondary education. Notable universities include the University of Chicago, Loyola University, DePaul University, Northeastern Illinois University and the Illinois Institute of Art.
Commuting Time in Chicago, IL
Chicago is one of the metropolitan areas where a five-minute difference getting on the expressway can make a 30-minute commute turn into a 90-minute commute. Not only is there congestion from suburban commuters coming into the city and going back out at the end of the work day, but traffic will also back up commuting from one suburb to another. That's one reason why over 25% of the daily commuters in Chicagoland use some form of mass transit.
Chicago's Regional Transportation System oversees the operation of the three local mass transit systems:
- The CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) manages public transportation within Chicago and a few of the adjoining suburbs, in addition to handling the rapid transit lines from Midway and O'Hare airports.
- Metra is an 11-line commuter rail system that operates between Chicago and the suburbs and is the second-most used passenger rail system in the U.S.
- Pace is a bus service operating among the 200 suburbs of Chicago with some service into the city as well
Chicago Demographics
Population
- Total Population2,709,534
- Male Population(48.6 %) 1,317,791
- Female Population(51.4 %) 1,391,743
- Median Age34.60
Income/Financial
- Average Household Income$90,708
- Median Household Income$58,247
- Median Income Under 25$32,333
- Median Income 25-44$71,965
- Median Income 45-64$63,081
- Median Income Over 65$33,637
News
The years between 2000 and 2020 have proven to be quite eventful for the U.S. office market. The first decade started on the tail end of the dot-com bubble, which resulted in the boom and bust of an unprecedented real estate bubble. Then, the 2010s were marked by growth and consolidation, only t...
For most of the past century, the U.S. reigned supreme as the home of the tallest buildings in the world. Then, Asia took over. Watch the world’s skyscraper race!
MLL Capital has started building a $500 million portfolio of institutional assets in the medical office, laboratory and life sciences sector. The investment firm recently purchased the Ravenswood Professional Building — a medical office building in the Ravenswood neighborhood on the north side o...