Centrally located, Chicago provides easy access to the world. The city has 1,400 daily departures to more than 200 cities worldwide, and serves as a hub for six of the nation's seven Class I North American railroads, as well as six major U.S. Interstates.
Chicago is a leader in a number of key industries including: Business & Financial Services, Manufacturing, Information Technology, Health Services, and Transportation & Distribution, and is a global leader in options, futures, and derivatives trading.
This combination of market access and economic diversity provides the resources a company needs to flourish. Alongside Chicago's pro-business environment, support services, and unique opportunities for growth, the city also offers a vibrant mix of cultural, educational, and social amenities.
As Big as a Country
- More than $500 billion gross regional product (GRP), larger than countries like Belgium and Norway
- 9.5 million people, 4.3 million employees, and over 260,000 businesses
Global and Diverse Economy
- 400+ Major Corporate Headquarters
- 30 S&P 500 companies
- 29 Fortune 500 HQs, including 7 in the City
- 10 FT Global 500 HQs
The World's Workforce
- Culturally diverse private-sector labor force of 4.3 million people
- At least 35 ethnic groups with a population greater than 10,000
- 1,500 foreign-owned firms in Chicago area
Center of the World
- At the center of one of the largest trading areas in the world: the east-west nexus joining the markets of Europe and Asia and the north-south nexus of NAFTA
- Chicago's location, central time zone and non-stop passenger service means that you can fly to nearly any U.S. city and return on the same business day
- Less than 10 hours from the major European business centers
- A non-stop global gateway to more than 50 international and 150 domestic business centers, with daily non-stops to Japan, Korea and China
- Only U.S. gateway where six of the nation's seven Class I railroads interchange traffic - CREATE projects are underway to increase freight and passenger rail efficiency in Chicago
- Nearly 150 intermodal facilities across the region – 41 in the city (more than half of area real estate is devoted to warehouse/distribution)
- Leading advanced telecommunications infrastructure supports interconnected regional, national and international networks
The Good Life
- Affordable cosmopolitan metropolis
- 80 miles (129 km) of public shoreline and 88 vacation beaches
- Outstanding public, private and parochial schools
- More Five-Diamond-rated restaurants than any other city in the U.S.
- 1 Michelin Guide 3-Star restaurant of 10 in North America
- The only U.S. city with four Tony awarding winning theater companies
- 30,000+ hotel rooms at properties including two of the world's Top 10 hotels
Metro Pulse
Dive deeper into the data using The Regional Indicators Project for Metropolitan Chicago
