Chicago employers reported 4,768,500 payroll jobs in September 2026, an estimated 3,800 fewer than in September 2025.
Payroll jobs4,768,500September 2026 · Jobs at workplaces
Annual jobs change−3,800Compared with September 2025
Annual payroll growth−0.1%Compared with September 2025
Unemployment rate4.4%September 2026 · 0.2 percentage points higher than September 2025
BLS total nonfarm payroll · Not seasonally adjusted. Payroll counts jobs at workplaces; unemployment measures residents. These are different measures.
BLS does not mark this annual payroll change statistically significant at 90% confidence. This does not establish a statistically significant difference between metros.
Historical detail below: Census QWI 2025 Q3 · BLS OEWS May 2025 occupation estimates. Each source keeps its own date and coverage.
Historical workforce detail · Census QWI 2025 Q3
Hiring, worker flows and pay in Chicago
Census workforce data arrive with a publication lag. These findings compare 2025 Q3 with 2024 Q3 and do not describe later conditions. Open "How this was calculated" for the arithmetic.
Census recorded 4,719,796 jobs in the Chicago metro at the start of 2025 Q3, up 0.5% from the same quarter a year earlier. This is historical workforce detail from the latest complete Census quarter saved for this metro. QWI covers private employers and state and local government; federal jobs are excluded. Its job counts differ from monthly BLS payroll coverage.
Jobs, start of quarter4,719,796+0.5% vs. 2024 Q3
Hires in the quarter686,39314.5 per 100 jobs · -0.2% vs. 2024 Q3
Avg. monthly earnings$6,706Stable workers, nominal · +3.9% vs. 2024 Q3
Occupations with local data674BLS OEWS May 2025
JobsCensus QWI · 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
+0.5%
Jobs rose 0.5% from 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
Beginning-of-quarter employment was 4,719,796 in 2025 Q3, against 4,694,743 in 2024 Q3, a change of +25,053 jobs. That change was larger than in 28 of the 49 other covered metros with matching data for the same quarters.
How this was calculated
(4,719,796 - 4,694,743) / 4,694,743 = +0.5%. Same quarter, one year apart; all industries, all ownership, not seasonally adjusted.
Health care and social assistance had the largest job gain of any major industry
Health care and social assistance added 19,740 jobs (+3.0%) between 2024 Q3 and 2025 Q3, and holds 14.4% of metro jobs. 8 of 14 industries with at least 2% of metro jobs grew. One year-over-year comparison is not a trend.
How this was calculated
679,005 - 659,265 = +19740 jobs; ranked by absolute change among sectors with at least 2% of 2025 Q3 employment and published values in both quarters.
63% of comparable occupations have local medians above the U.S. median
Of 665 occupations with a published annual median both here and nationally, 420 have a higher local median, 241 a lower one and 4 the same. The largest such occupation, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand (157,920 jobs), has a median of $40,550 versus $40,240 nationally. Annual figures are published annualized OEWS wage estimates, not actual annual take-home pay; pay is nominal and not adjusted for cost of living.
How this was calculated
Above: 420/665 = 63.2%; below: 241/665 = 36.2%; equal: 4/665. Occupations with both metro and national annual medians published (top-coded or suppressed values excluded), OEWS May 2025.
Transportation and warehousing is a larger part of the job base than in most covered metros
5.8% of jobs here are in transportation and warehousing, compared with a median of 4.6% across 49 other covered metros in 2025 Q3, about 1.3 times the typical share.
How this was calculated
Sector employment / all-industry employment for 2025 Q3; compared with the median share of the same sector in the other covered metros with the same quarter. Only sectors with at least 3% of local jobs are considered.
14.5 hires per 100 jobs in 2025 Q3, at or below the comparison median
Employers recorded 686,393 hires during 2025 Q3 against 4,719,796 jobs at the start of the quarter. The median across 49 other covered metros was 15.8. This is a flow ratio, not a chance of being hired, and hires are not job openings.
Jobs changed +0.5% and hires -0.2% between the same quarter one year apart. During 2025 Q3 employers recorded 686,393 hires and 725,471 separations, a difference of -39,078. That difference is a flow measure and is not the same as the official change in employment.
Census QWI beginning-of-quarter employment, all industries, private employers and state and local government; federal jobs excluded. Not seasonally adjusted. The axis is truncated: bars start above zero to show change. Compare the same quarter across years because seasonal patterns repeat. The highlighted bar is 2025 Q3.Show as a table
Quarter
Employment
Hires
Separations
2023 Q1
4,531,102
631,830
616,869
2023 Q2
4,545,850
814,294
686,549
2023 Q3
4,671,794
733,026
783,467
2023 Q4
4,621,982
666,981
717,177
2024 Q1
4,573,120
571,105
574,026
2024 Q2
4,569,753
749,633
625,738
2024 Q3
4,694,743
687,724
732,262
2024 Q4
4,650,806
631,511
677,684
2025 Q1
4,604,961
521,292
534,844
2025 Q2
4,591,759
731,310
604,748
2025 Q3
4,719,796
686,393
725,471
Careers · BLS OEWS May 2025
Explore careers in Chicago
674 detailed occupations with local estimates, 668 with a published local median wage. Figures describe one survey reference period, not growth, openings or forecasts.
Try:
Showing 1 to 25 of 674 matching occupations. Local jobs are OEWS employment estimates; medians are for all workers in the occupation in this metro, compared with the U.S. median for the same occupation and pay basis.
BLS OEWS May 2025, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (CBSA 16980). Unknown values sort last.
Occupation
Local jobs
Annual median
Hourly median
vs. U.S. median
National context
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand53-7062 · Transportation and material moving
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (CBSA 16980), one survey reference period. They show levels, not growth, openings or forecasts.
Largest occupations by local jobs: laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand (157,920), general and operations managers (122,930), home health and personal care aides (108,520), registered nurses (100,240), cashiers (99,240).
Medians are for all workers in the occupation in this metro. "vs. U.S." compares with the national median for the same occupation, same release and same pay basis. 665 occupations have published annual medians both here and nationally. 6 have no published local median.
Annual figures are published annualized OEWS wage estimates, not actual annual take-home pay. Pay is nominal and not adjusted for cost of living.
Some occupations are paid and published on an hourly or annual basis only; the other column then says so rather than showing a converted figure.
"Not released" means BLS did not publish that local estimate. 1 occupations have a median above the BLS reporting ceiling, shown as such rather than as a number. Nothing is filled in or treated as zero.
"U.S. profile" links open national data for the occupation, not Chicago figures.
Compare metros
How Chicago compares with similar metros
Monthly payroll comparison · September 2026
All payroll rows compare September 2026 with September 2025 from the same BLS release, not seasonally adjusted. These are the same suggested peers used in the quarterly profiles. Estimates do not establish statistically significant differences between metros.
Payroll measures jobs at workplaces. Unemployment rates measure residents and are shown only when a validated estimate matches the same month and metro.
Historical comparison · Census QWI 2025 Q3
Quarterly hiring, jobs and earnings
Every metro in this historical table uses 2025 Q3 and 2024 Q3, from one saved Census release. Monthly payroll comparisons above use a separate BLS source and are not combined with these measures.
Showing Chicago with Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles. Default: the 3 covered metros closest in total employment (Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles).
Choose metros (3 of 49 selected)
Census QWI, 2025 Q3 compared with 2024 Q3 for Chicago and selected metros.
Census QWI, 2025 Q3 compared with 2024 Q3 for every metro. Hires per 100 jobs is hires during the quarter divided by beginning-of-quarter employment, times 100: a flow ratio, not a chance of being hired. Earnings are average monthly earnings of stable workers, nominal, not adjusted for cost of living.
Suggested peers are the covered metros closest in total QWI employment (smallest ratio difference) for the same quarter. Differences of a few tenths of a point are within normal revision and should not be read as a ranking.
By industry · Census QWI 2025 Q3
Industries behind the numbers
Hires are a count of hires made during the quarter, not unique people or job openings. A large count reflects industry size and turnover.
Largest job gains, 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
Health care and social assistance+19,740 jobs+3.0%
Educational services+8,631 jobs+2.1%
Arts, entertainment, and recreation+4,381 jobs+3.3%
Largest job declines, 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
Wholesale trade-5,800 jobs-2.4%
Management of companies and enterprises-3,462 jobs-4.9%
Retail trade-3,349 jobs-0.8%
Show all 20 industry sectors
Census QWI NAICS sectors, private employers and state and local government; federal jobs excluded. Not seasonally adjusted. Change compares 2025 Q3 with 2024 Q3, the same quarter a year earlier. Not published = not published for every state portion or no matching prior-year quarter. Sectors do not add exactly to the total.
Industry
Employment
Share of jobs
Employment change, 1 yr
Hires
Hires change, 1 yr
Avg. monthly earnings
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
5,831
0.1%
+1.7%
1,973
-4.5%
$4,313
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
1,737
0.0%
-1.1%
147
+4.3%
$9,308
Utilities
20,185
0.4%
+0.4%
792
+20.4%
$10,145
Construction
192,183
4.1%
+1.0%
33,983
+0.2%
$8,097
Manufacturing
408,589
8.7%
-0.5%
29,726
-8.1%
$7,563
Wholesale trade
236,236
5.0%
-2.4%
17,133
-7.4%
$8,937
Retail trade
437,186
9.3%
-0.8%
70,003
-3.9%
$3,824
Transportation and warehousing
273,682
5.8%
+1.1%
40,360
-4.5%
$6,085
Information
85,348
1.8%
+2.0%
7,235
-2.3%
$12,309
Finance and insurance
242,940
5.1%
+0.8%
15,569
-0.0%
$12,415
Real estate and rental and leasing
68,813
1.5%
-1.2%
7,990
-3.8%
$7,187
Professional, scientific, and technical services
395,380
8.4%
-0.6%
41,836
-1.9%
$10,429
Management of companies and enterprises
66,926
1.4%
-4.9%
5,383
-1.6%
$10,437
Administrative and support and waste management
353,779
7.5%
-0.5%
121,311
+8.3%
$5,445
Educational services
412,847
8.7%
+2.1%
54,513
-2.0%
$5,442
Health care and social assistance
679,005
14.4%
+3.0%
92,394
+3.5%
$5,513
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
138,290
2.9%
+3.3%
23,916
-1.7%
$4,188
Accommodation and food services
403,983
8.6%
+0.6%
91,001
-2.1%
$2,984
Other services (except public administration)
168,668
3.6%
-0.1%
23,698
+1.2%
$5,145
Public administration
128,186
2.7%
+1.1%
7,429
-6.4%
$7,275
Sources and limits
Where these numbers come from
Monthly BLS payroll estimates cover September 2026. Census workforce detail covers 2025 Q3, and the wage survey covers OEWS May 2025. Each source retains its own observation period, coverage and publication dates. None is a real-time measure.
BLS monthly metro estimates
Current Employment Statistics (CES) total nonfarm payroll employment. Jobs at workplaces, not unique people, job openings or forecasts. Compare the same month one year apart because these estimates are not seasonally adjusted.
Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) measures unemployment among residents of the metro. Its rate is shown separately from workplace payroll employment.
U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators. Jobs, hires, separations and earnings by industry for private employers and state and local government. Federal jobs are excluded.
Monthly payroll estimates measure nonfarm jobs at workplaces, not hiring events, job openings or resident employment. Annual changes are estimates, may be revised and do not establish acceleration or statistically significant differences between metros.
Hires are not job openings and not your odds of being hired. We make no claim about layoffs, AI or other causes behind any change.
Census QWI covers private employers and state and local government; federal jobs are excluded. Its data typically run about three quarters behind publication. This report uses the latest complete saved quarter, 2025 Q3; any newer partial measures are not substituted for the complete quarterly package.
QWI earnings are averages for workers who held the same job all quarter, before taxes, in nominal dollars. They are not salary offers and are not adjusted for cost of living.
BLS OEWS figures (OEWS May 2025) describe one survey reference period. They show levels, not growth, and are a different period from the QWI quarter, so the two are never combined into one measure.
BLS does not release some local estimates; they appear as "Not released", and wages above its reporting ceiling appear as such rather than as a number. None is filled in or treated as zero.
Census publishes this metro as separate IL and IN portions; QWI values here are their sum. BLS OEWS publishes the whole metro directly.
Single-quarter swings in an industry can reflect employer reclassification or reporting changes. Compare several quarters before drawing conclusions.