• Why Chicago?

Do you want to be in the heart of a rising global tech hub? Chicago is it!

The Windy City has seen 18% growth in the tech workforce in the last decade, and Chicago outperforms national averages for diversity in tech. For more information on Chicago's tech growth, see The Chicago Tech Effect from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and check out resources on Built In Chicago.

Chicago Tech Facts


Home to 35 Fortune 500 companies

Including Motorola, Discover, Walgreens, McDonalds and more.

34% women-owned start-ups

Chicago has the highest share of female founders of the world's top 20 tech hubs

100+ incubators and accelerators

Including 1871, ranked as the World's #1 Private Business Incubator

1 of only 4 cities with 3 tier-one research universities

Including Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Home to 5 unicorn start-ups

Avant, Raise, SMS Assist, Tempus, Uptake

Record start-up launches and funding opportunities

City launches 370 start-ups annually and drew $1.9 B in VC funding (CBRE)

Cost of living

Cost of living is up to 54.5% lower in Chicago than on the East or West coast


Chicago-based Firms

Applied Systems

Cameo

FourKites

Grubhub

Groupon

project44

ShopRunner

SpotHero

Sprout Social

Trunk Club

Chicago Offices

Amazon

Cisco

Google

HP

Salesorce

LinkedIn

Meta

Microsoft

Pinterest

ServiceNow

Uber, and more...