Chicago had 44,840 licensed businesses operating in the city last year, fewer than any year in the past decade and 17% less than during 2015. The Magnificent Mile reported the largest drop with active business licenses, falling by over half.
Chicago had fewer licensed businesses operating in the city in 2024 than during any year in the past decade, thanks to 17% of its businesses disappearing since 2015.
Analysis of Chicago business license data shows the city was home to 54,135 businesses with an active license in 2015. A decade later, that number has dropped to 44,840.
Among Chicago’s neighborhoods, the Magnificent Mile community on the Near North Side saw the largest percentage decline in active business licenses during the past decade, with the number falling from 1,600 to 784 last year – a 51% drop.
New City on Chicago’s Southwest Side reported the largest percentage increase in active business licenses since 2015, with the count of neighborhood business licenses climbing from 1,429 to 2,580.
As the number of active businesses in Chicago declined, the number of license approvals fell from 104,720 in 2015 to 87,029 last year. The number of newly issued licenses declined by one-quarter during this time as renewals fell by about 15%.
The average Chicago business had 1.9 active licenses last year, essentially the same number as a decade ago. At the extreme end, Walgreens Co. required 389 licenses to keep operating last year, the most of any company citywide.
This decline continued into the first six months of 2025, with the city reporting 1,576 fewer active business between January and June than during the same period in 2024.
Only 28 of Chicago’s 98 neighborhoods reported having more active business licenses in 2024 than they did one decade prior.
Licenses to do business in the city of Chicago must typically be renewed every two years and may require on-site inspections, zoning reviews and even criminal background checks.
There were 60 different types of licenses issued last year. The most common was the limited business license, which is required for businesses including retail stores, office supply stores and brokers. Those account for nearly one-third of all licenses.
The next two most common were the licenses for retail food establishments, including restaurants, grocery stores and cafes, and the regulated business license for home occupation, home repair, hotels and long-term care.
The application fee for a limited business license was $250. But these costs can be as high as $6,600 for certain licenses, such as for a caterer from outside the city.
Businesses in Chicago already pay the third-highest state corporate income tax rates in the nation. They also pay the highest commercial property taxes in the U.S.
That’s in addition to the seventh-highest combined state and local sales tax rate and one of the most punitive unemployment insurance tax structures in the nation – just because they operate in the city.
Chicago leaders need to make it easier for entrepreneurs and existing businesses to compete or risk these employers taking their jobs and tax dollars to more competitive locales. Illinois is one the nation’s leaders in business outmigration.
Big businesses such as Boeing, Caterpillar, TTX, Citadel and Tyson have already left Chicago, but many small businesses have just evaporated – a bad thing in a state where mom-and-pop shops create most of the new jobs.
