Business Formation Pulse · IL counties

Illinois Business Applications by County

Explore annual Census business applications across Illinois. Bubble size shows application volume; color can show volume or year-over-year change.

Latest year: 2025 · 102 counties

Interactive county map

Where are business applications concentrated?

Choose a year and map view, then select a bubble or ranking bar for exact county context.

Map view
Light to dark: lower to higher application volumeBubble size: applications

County points use official Census internal coordinates. Values are protected estimates from the published annual BFS county file.

County ranking

Highest application counties

The ranking follows the selected year and map measure. Select a bar to inspect that county.

Ranking

All counties

Ranked by 2025 business applications

Illinois counties ranked by 2025 business applications
RankCountyApplicationsvs. prior yearShare of state
1Cook County (featured)99,217+8.1%52.3%
2DuPage County15,622+11.3%8.2%
3Will County10,298+12.7%5.4%
4Lake County9,888+15.0%5.2%
5Kane County6,489+11.2%3.4%
6Sangamon County4,281+1.0%2.3%
7McHenry County3,764+19.0%2.0%
8St. Clair County3,432+16.3%1.8%
9Winnebago County3,350+14.1%1.8%
10Madison County2,929+20.7%1.5%
11Champaign County2,289+17.5%1.2%
12Peoria County2,032+14.0%1.1%
13Kendall County1,975+16.2%1.0%
14McLean County1,554+10.5%0.8%
15Rock Island County1,318+23.8%0.7%
16Kankakee County1,202+18.3%0.6%
17Macon County1,107+19.8%0.6%
18LaSalle County1,026+29.4%0.5%
19Tazewell County1,026+22.0%0.5%
20DeKalb County948+10.9%0.5%
21Vermilion County708+19.2%0.4%
22Williamson County626+21.1%0.3%
23Jackson County592+37.7%0.3%
24Adams County552+18.2%0.3%
25Grundy County527+20.6%0.3%
26Boone County492+9.1%0.3%
27Coles County483+29.1%0.3%
28Whiteside County415+16.2%0.2%
29Stephenson County404+15.8%0.2%
30Ogle County387+16.9%0.2%
31Macoupin County363+12.7%0.2%
32Henry County355+6.9%0.2%
33Knox County344-0.9%0.2%
34Effingham County327+33.5%0.2%
35Woodford County323+16.6%0.2%
36Clinton County319+26.6%0.2%
37Marion County301+28.1%0.2%
38Jefferson County299+4.5%0.2%
39Monroe County292+8.6%0.2%
40Franklin County257+10.8%0.1%
41Lee County255-1.5%0.1%
42Livingston County255+8.1%0.1%
43Bureau County254+16.5%0.1%
44Fulton County243+52.8%0.1%
45Iroquois County236+4.0%0.1%
46Morgan County233+22.0%0.1%
47Montgomery County215+16.2%0.1%
48Douglas County210+44.8%0.1%
49Christian County209+23.7%0.1%
50McDonough County204+18.6%0.1%
51Randolph County197+28.8%0.1%
52Logan County191+3.8%0.1%
53Jo Daviess County190+8.0%0.1%
54Saline County190+6.7%0.1%
55Fayette County175+28.7%0.1%
56Jersey County166+27.7%0.1%
57Hancock County160+22.1%0.1%
58Union County149+14.6%0.1%
59Shelby County146-7.0%0.1%
60Clark County145+18.9%0.1%
61Edgar County143+2.1%0.1%
62Mercer County143+7.5%0.1%
63Richland County143+28.8%0.1%
64Carroll County139+41.8%0.1%
65Piatt County138+5.3%0.1%
66Massac County137+47.3%0.1%
67Warren County133+4.7%0.1%
68Bond County131+4.8%0.1%
69Crawford County127+17.6%0.1%
70Lawrence County124+69.9%0.1%
71Moultrie County124+2.5%0.1%
72Pike County122+23.2%0.1%
73Ford County121+8.0%0.1%
74Perry County114+9.6%0.1%
75Johnson County112+57.7%0.1%
76Wayne County106-17.2%0.1%
77Clay County104+15.6%0.1%
78De Witt County104+9.5%0.1%
79Greene County100+25.0%0.1%
80Mason County99+23.8%0.1%
81Menard County99+39.4%0.1%
82Washington County96-5.9%0.1%
83Cass County92+19.5%0.0%
84Jasper County88+37.5%0.0%
85White County85-16.7%0.0%
86Cumberland County80+8.1%0.0%
87Wabash County70+12.9%0.0%
88Alexander County67+28.8%0.0%
89Marshall County67-23.0%0.0%
90Hamilton County62+19.2%0.0%
91Putnam County60+42.9%0.0%
92Stark County54+28.6%0.0%
93Edwards County44-12.0%0.0%
94Brown County41+20.6%0.0%
95Pulaski County40-42.0%0.0%
96Gallatin County39+8.3%0.0%
97Schuyler County39-27.8%0.0%
98Pope County36+24.1%0.0%
99Hardin County34+112.5%0.0%
100Henderson County34-2.9%0.0%
101Scott County33-19.5%0.0%
102Calhoun County27+8.0%0.0%