The local economy of Illinois and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data, plus daily local gas prices for the state, its counties and metro areas.
Unemployment rate
4.7%
+0.4 ptsvs a year ago
Counties: lowest Monroe County 2.5%, highest Edwards County 7.0%.
August 2026, seasonally adjusted, preliminary
Average weekly pay
$1,731
+4.1%vs a year ago
5,992,382 jobs at 389,406 business locations.
Q1 2026, all jobs
New homes permitted
19,157
+1.3%this year vs last year
Most in Cook County 4,929, Kane County 2,080.
Homes in the last 12 months, to August 2026
People moving in
-55,609
-5.5 per 1,000residents
183,451 moved in and 239,060 moved out. Most newcomers came from Indiana.
Net people, 2022 to 2023, the newest year published
Illinois gas price
$4.70
+$1.44vs a year ago
Counties: lowest Calhoun County $4.11, highest Alexander County $4.90. Counties and metro areas
Regular, per gallon, Illinois, October 9, 2026
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for the history of that area.
The state, its counties and metro areas, updated daily. A separate series from the weekly survey prices above.
Business locations, employees and payroll by industry, 2023. Click an industry for its US report.
Business locations
322K
0.0%vs 2022
2023, places with paid employees
Employees
5.66M
+2.3%vs 2022
Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance (15.1%).
2023, mid-March
Annual payroll
$409.9B
Wages and salaries paid during the year.
2023, all industries
Average pay
$72,398
Highest sector: Utilities $133,747.
Per employee per year
Share of Illinois's employees, 2023
| Industry | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 413,060 | $24,994 |
| Employment Services | 256,445 | $47,249 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 230,673 | $128,548 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 224,109 | $79,354 |
| Individual and Family Services | 124,936 | $29,118 |
| Offices of Physicians | 109,540 | $108,179 |
| Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | 105,175 | $133,178 |
| Grocery Stores | 101,491 | $31,002 |
| Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities | 99,557 | $66,764 |
| General Merchandise Stores, including Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters | 98,298 | $29,965 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | 93,566 | $56,167 |
| Depository Credit Intermediation | 87,720 | $111,019 |
Most values are changed slightly to protect the privacy of single businesses; a few are withheld and shown as a range. Counties and metro areas have the same numbers in the area card above (Industries).
Cost, students and graduate earnings of the colleges in the state, from official public data.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Illinois, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Illinois is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row. Daily gas prices are average pump prices for Illinois, its counties and metro areas on the day shown. The weekly gas prices in the explorer come from a separate weekly survey that publishes a price for only some states, so a state without one shows the price of its region there; the two series are never combined.
The unemployment rate in Illinois was 4.7% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.3% a year earlier. 6,170,228 people were employed out of a labor force of 6,477,009. Among its counties, Monroe County had the lowest rate (2.5%) and Edwards County the highest (7.0%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Illinois was $1,731 in Q1 2026, up 4.1% from a year earlier, across 5,992,382 jobs at 389,406 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 2,266 new homes in Illinois in August 2026 (962 single-family and 1,132 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 13,369, up 1.3% from the same months last year, and 19,157 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Cook County (4,929), Kane County (2,080), Champaign County (1,903) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 183,451 people moved to Illinois and 239,060 moved away, a net loss of 55,609 (-5.5 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from Indiana, Florida, California, and most people who left went to Florida, Indiana, Texas.
Regular gasoline in Illinois averaged $4.70 per gallon on October 9, 2026, up $1.44 from a year earlier. Diesel averaged $6.60. Among its counties, Calhoun County had the lowest regular price ($4.11) and Alexander County the highest ($4.90).
Health Care and Social Assistance (857,043 employees), Retail Trade (571,091 employees), Manufacturing (544,438 employees) were the largest sectors in Illinois in 2023. In all, 322,415 business locations employed 5,661,761 people at an average pay of $72,398 a year.