Cook County, IL skilled trades market

Licensed workforce by trade

Licence records on the Illinois register located in Cook County that the register does not mark expired or revoked and evidences as licences actually held; median annual wage from BLS OEWS. Illinois publishes a county-level address for only 16% of its licence records, so this is a count of the records that place here, not of everyone licensed to work here. The real number is higher. Counts from states that publish addresses for most of their register are not comparable with this one. The last column is the modelled probability this county's wages for the trade tighten materially faster than the national trend over 24 months, not a probability that a shortage occurs. Trades that share an industry code share a forecast.

Known capital projects

1,569 active projects on record in Cook County, $32.7B of committed investment; 57 carry a construction-labor demand model. Largest by disclosed investment:

• Red Line Extension, transit infrastructure, $5.8B, est. completion 2031
• Red and Purple Line Modernization Project Phase 1, transit infrastructure, $2.1B (demand not yet modeled)
• Red and Purple Line Modernization Project Phase One, transit infrastructure, $2.1B (demand not yet modeled)
• FULL BUILDING PERMIT FOR THE SUPERSTRUCTURE, ENCLOSURE, AND INTERIOR FIT OUT OF SATELLITE... -- 10000 W Ohare St, commercial development, $730M (demand not yet modeled)
• INTERIOR BUILDOUT OF NEW 7-STORY CASINO, PARKING, AND EVENT CENTER BUILDING AND 34-STORY... -- 705 W Chicago Ave, commercial development, $580M (demand not yet modeled)

Nearby markets

Counties that share a border (Census county adjacency), then the wider labor shed: same metro area or within 60 miles.

• Lake County, IL, 22 mi, shares a border, 213 licensed
• DuPage County, IL, 23 mi, shares a border, 256 licensed
• Lake County, IN, 32 mi, shares a border, 563 licensed
• Will County, IL, 35 mi, shares a border, 175 licensed
• Kane County, IL, 40 mi, shares a border, 146 licensed
• Porter County, IN, 40 mi, shares a border, 218 licensed
• Berrien County, MI, 47 mi, shares a border, 824 licensed
• McHenry County, IL, 51 mi, shares a border, 148 licensed

Labor shed: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

Counties in the same Census metro area, the realistic commute shed for this market.

• DuPage County, IL
• Lake County, IL
• Will County, IL
• Kane County, IL
• Lake County, IN
• McHenry County, IL
• Porter County, IN
• Kendall County, IL
• DeKalb County, IL
• Grundy County, IL
• Jasper County, IN
• Newton County, IN

Common questions

How many licensed skilled-trades workers are in Cook County, IL?

Cook County has 928 licensed skilled-trades records on the Illinois register, across 1 trades. Illinois publishes a county-level address for only 16% of its licence records, so this is a count of the records that place here, not of everyone licensed to work here. The real number is higher. Counts from states that publish addresses for most of their register are not comparable with this one.

Which trades have a full market page for Cook County?

electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, boiler operators, each with licensed supply, wages, demand outlook and current openings.

Are there major construction projects planned in Cook County?

ATI tracks 1,569 active capital projects in Cook County, listed above by disclosed investment. A project on record is not a guarantee of hiring.

Related pages