Chicago Business Sale Statistics 2026: How Many Businesses Exist, and Which Are Disappearing
Nobody publishes how many Chicago businesses change hands each year. No agency counts it, and business filings carry no industry code. What can be counted is how many businesses of each kind exist, and how that number has moved.
This page reports Cook County establishment counts by industry for 2015 through 2025. Every figure was pulled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and computed here. A category that shrinks while its neighbours grow is a category where owners are leaving.
An establishment count is not a transaction count. A business that leaves the count may have been sold, closed, merged or reclassified. The data cannot tell you which. What it does show is where owners are exiting. Cook County offices of physicians fell 30.3% in ten years. Drycleaners fell 39.4%. Bars fell 14.6%. Food service overall barely moved at 0.7%, but its composition changed completely.
Key Takeaways
- Cook County had 11,283 food service and drinking places in early 2025, against 11,210 in 2015. The total moved 0.7% in a decade. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW, September 2026)
- Offices of physicians fell from 3,376 to 2,354, a decline of 30.3%. Podiatrists fell 36.5% and dentists 13.2%. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW, September 2026)
- Mental health practitioners grew from 542 to 1,334, up 146.1%. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW, September 2026)
- Beauty salons were flat at +0.1% while nail salons grew 62.7% and barber shops 51.6%. The personal care aggregate grew 19.3%. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW, September 2026)
- Drycleaning fell 39.4%, the steepest decline measured. Coin-operated laundromats fell 24.2%. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW, September 2026)
- No agency publishes a business transaction count for Chicago or Cook County, in any industry.
Food Service Recomposed Without Changing Size
The headline number is flat. Underneath it, the mix changed completely. Bars, contractors and cafeterias fell hard. Coffee bars, food trucks and full-service restaurants grew.
Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Cook County, private ownership, first quarter of each year.
| Industry | 2015 | 2025 | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All food services and drinking places | 11,210 | 11,283 | +0.7% |
| Full-service restaurants | 4,060 | 4,305 | +6.0% |
| Limited-service restaurants | 4,359 | 4,199 | -3.7% |
| Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars | 740 | 1,136 | +53.5% |
| Drinking places (bars) | 1,084 | 926 | -14.6% |
| Food service contractors | 527 | 321 | -39.1% |
| Caterers | 316 | 273 | -13.6% |
| Mobile food services | 39 | 64 | +64.1% |
| Cafeterias and buffets | 85 | 59 | -30.6% |
Health Practices: The Clearest Exit Signal
A third of Cook County physician offices disappeared in ten years. Practices do not evaporate. They get bought, and absorbed into groups and systems.
Source: BLS QCEW, Cook County, private ownership, first quarter of each year.
| Industry | 2015 | 2025 | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offices of physicians | 3,376 | 2,354 | -30.3% |
| Dentists | 2,859 | 2,483 | -13.2% |
| Chiropractors | 622 | 492 | -20.9% |
| Optometrists | 334 | 267 | -20.1% |
| Podiatrists | 244 | 155 | -36.5% |
| Physical, occupational and speech therapists | 649 | 663 | +2.2% |
| Mental health practitioners | 542 | 1,334 | +146.1% |
Personal Care Splits Three Ways
The aggregate grew 19.3%. The largest category inside it did not move at all.
| Industry | 2015 | 2025 | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal care services, all | 2,141 | 2,555 | +19.3% |
| Beauty salons | 1,433 | 1,435 | +0.1% |
| Nail salons | 292 | 475 | +62.7% |
| Barber shops | 95 | 144 | +51.6% |
| Other personal care | 307 | 485 | +58.0% |
Home Services and the Trades
Every trade category shrank. The individual six-digit trades are suppressed by BLS, so four-digit groupings are the finest detail available.
| Industry | 2015 | 2025 | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building equipment contractors (plumbing, HVAC, electrical) | 2,716 | 2,397 | -11.7% |
| Building finishing contractors (roofing, painting, drywall) | 2,047 | 1,661 | -18.9% |
| Foundation, structure and exterior contractors | 1,480 | 1,243 | -16.0% |
| Landscaping services | 1,205 | 1,204 | -0.1% |
| Janitorial services | 1,257 | 1,078 | -14.2% |
Everything Else That Trades
| Industry | 2015 | 2025 | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child day care services | 1,437 | 1,481 | +3.1% |
| Drycleaning and laundry services | 792 | 527 | -33.5% |
| Drycleaning, non-coin | 510 | 309 | -39.4% |
| Coin-operated laundromats | 244 | 185 | -24.2% |
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 2,823 | 2,506 | -11.2% |
| Body and paint shops | 569 | 447 | -21.4% |
| Car washes | 269 | 235 | -12.6% |
| Grocery stores | 1,962 | 1,701 | -13.3% |
| Beer, wine and liquor stores | 642 | 617 | -3.9% |
| Fitness and recreational sports centers | 469 | 573 | +22.2% |
| Pet care except veterinary | 281 | 328 | +16.7% |
What Nobody Publishes
These were searched for and are confirmed absent. A firm that tells you otherwise is quoting a national figure as though it were local.
- No transaction count. No agency publishes how many Chicago or Cook County businesses are sold per year, in any industry. Entity filings carry no industry code, and licence records do not distinguish a new opening from a change of ownership.
- No local failure or survival rate. Census and BLS publish survival cohorts nationally only. There is no Chicago, Cook County or Illinois failure rate for restaurants, bars or salons at one, three or five years.
- No time from agreement to closing. The often-quoted 178 days for restaurants measures listing to sale, which is a different thing. No source publishes the interval from signed letter of intent to closing, at any geography.
- No local sale price, multiple or days on market. Broker marketplaces publish national aggregates. Industry surveys split by deal size, never by geography crossed with industry.
- No financing mix. Raw loan counts exist. The share of sales financed by a bank, a seller note or cash does not, for any of these industries.
- No resale price for an Illinois liquor licence, and there never can be. A licence is a personal privilege and does not constitute property, so no secondary market can legally exist. This distinguishes Illinois from states where licences trade like taxi medallions. (235 ILCS 5/6-1)
Methodology and Source Notes
Counts come from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Open Data API, Cook County, FIPS 17031, private ownership, first quarter of each year. Each year was pulled as a separate file and the industry rows were read directly.
This page counts businesses. For what they sell for, see Chicago business valuation statistics 2026.
Five limits apply to every number on this page.
- Employer establishments only. QCEW counts businesses with payroll covered by unemployment insurance. Sole proprietors and businesses without employees are excluded. That is a large share of personal care and the trades. Every count here is a floor.
- First quarter snapshots. Not annual averages, and not seasonally adjusted.
- Not designed as a time series. BLS states this directly. Establishments move between counties and industries for administrative reasons as well as economic ones. Treat direction as reliable and any single year as noisy.
- Suppression. Gasoline stations and the individual six-digit construction trades are withheld for confidentiality and cannot be obtained this way.
- A count is not a transaction. Stated again because it is the error most easily made with this data.
Update policy
BLS posts roughly five to six months after each quarter ends. This page is refreshed quarterly on that schedule. Nothing on it moves faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many restaurants are there in Cook County?
Cook County had 11,283 private food service and drinking places establishments in the first quarter of 2025, of which 4,305 were full-service restaurants and 4,199 were limited-service restaurants. These counts come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. They count employer establishments with payroll only, so sole proprietors and businesses without employees are excluded. The counts are a floor, not a total.
Are Chicago restaurants closing?
The total count barely moved. Cook County food service and drinking places went from 11,210 establishments in 2015 to 11,283 in 2025, a change of 0.7 percent over ten years. What changed is the composition. Bars fell 14.6 percent, food service contractors fell 39.1 percent and cafeterias fell 30.6 percent, while snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars grew 53.5 percent, mobile food services grew 64.1 percent and full-service restaurants grew 6.0 percent.
How many bars are there in Cook County?
Cook County had 926 drinking places in the first quarter of 2025, down from 1,084 in 2015. That is a decline of 158 establishments, or 14.6 percent, over ten years. Drinking places is NAICS code 722410 and the figure counts employer establishments only.
Are medical practices being bought up in Chicago?
The establishment counts are consistent with consolidation. Cook County offices of physicians fell from 3,376 in 2015 to 2,354 in 2025, a decline of 30.3 percent. Podiatrists fell 36.5 percent, chiropractors 20.9 percent, optometrists 20.1 percent and dentists 13.2 percent. Mental health practitioners moved the other way and grew 146.1 percent. An establishment count cannot distinguish a practice that was sold from one that closed, so this is a signal and not a transaction count.
How many hair salons are in Cook County?
Cook County had 1,435 beauty salons, 475 nail salons and 144 barber shops in the first quarter of 2025. Beauty salons were essentially flat over ten years at plus 0.1 percent, while nail salons grew 62.7 percent and barber shops grew 51.6 percent. The personal care aggregate grew 19.3 percent, which conceals that the largest category did not move.
How many businesses are sold in Chicago each year?
No agency publishes a transaction count for Chicago or Cook County business sales, for any industry. Searches of city and county data portals, the Illinois Secretary of State, broker marketplaces and federal business dynamics data found no published figure. Business entity filings carry no industry code, and license records do not reliably distinguish a new opening from a change of ownership.
Related reading
- Chicago business valuation statistics 2026: multiples, LOI terms and the SBA rules
- How to sell your LLC in Illinois
- What is my business actually worth?
- EBITDA vs. Quality of Earnings
- Before you sign that letter of intent
- The SBA's new acquisition rules
Full Source List
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Open Data API, Cook County (FIPS 17031)
- BLS QCEW program overview and technical notes
- City of Chicago Data Portal, Business Licenses dataset
- U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics (searched for local survival rates, none published below national level)
- Abdilla Law: What Is My Business Worth
Reuse is welcome with attribution and a link to this page. Cite as: Abdilla and Associates, "Chicago Business Sale Statistics 2026," thechicagolandlawyer.com, updated September 2026.