New businesses in Illinois — October 2026
Auspector ·
Between September 27 and October 27, 2026, 8,040 Illinois business records entered our newly opened businesses section, fifth among U.S. states. Chicago received 2,071 of them (25.8%), and Springfield was second with 157, ahead of Rockford and Naperville.
How many new businesses are there in Illinois?
8,040 Illinois records entered our newly opened businesses section between September 27 and October 27, 2026, about 268 a day on average. The date is the day a record reached us, not the day the business opened. Only California, Texas, Florida and New York received more. Ohio follows close behind with 7,678. The Illinois page of our data section shows the current counts by sector and city.
Chicago, its suburbs and the rest of Illinois
| City | Area | New records | All records in our database | New per 1,000 records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Chicago | 2,071 | 153,357 | 13.5 |
| Springfield | Rest of Illinois | 157 | 10,021 | 15.7 |
| Rockford | Rest of Illinois | 143 | 10,809 | 13.2 |
| Naperville | Chicago area | 139 | 11,637 | 11.9 |
| Aurora | Chicago area | 120 | 8,225 | 14.6 |
| Peoria | Rest of Illinois | 116 | 8,835 | 13.1 |
| Schaumburg | Chicago area | 106 | 7,685 | 13.8 |
| Joliet | Chicago area | 96 | 6,933 | 13.8 |
| Elgin | Chicago area | 76 | 6,115 | 12.4 |
| Arlington Heights | Chicago area | 63 | 5,705 | 11.0 |
| Evanston | Chicago area | 62 | 6,590 | 9.4 |
| Champaign | Rest of Illinois | 59 | 5,737 | 10.3 |
Chicago received 2,071, 25.8% of the state’s new records. Springfield, the state capital, is second (157), ahead of Rockford (143) and Naperville (139), although both hold more records in our database. The seven Chicago-area suburbs in the table received 662 together; with the city, that is 34.0% of the state. Outside the Chicago area, Springfield, Rockford, Peoria and Champaign received 475. Relative to their size, Springfield (15.7 new per 1,000 records) and Aurora (14.6) received the most, Evanston (9.4) the fewest. The other 60.1% of new Illinois records are in localities outside the table or do not carry a city yet. Chicago’s month next to New York City, Los Angeles and Houston: new businesses in four U.S. cities.
Which sectors are opening in Illinois?
| Sector | New in Illinois | New in Chicago | All Illinois records | New per 1,000 records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 206 | 46 | 24,156 | 8.5 |
| Hair and beauty salons | 167 | 36 | 21,637 | 7.7 |
| Dentists and dental clinics | 159 | 80 | 12,552 | 12.7 |
| Construction companies | 102 | 15 | 13,987 | 7.3 |
| Auto repair shops | 89 | 10 | 12,379 | 7.2 |
| Real estate agencies | 88 | 16 | 20,423 | 4.3 |
| Cafés | 60 | 11 | 4,102 | 14.6 |
| Bars and pubs | 43 | 8 | 4,158 | 10.3 |
| Supermarkets and grocery stores | 37 | 12 | 5,237 | 7.1 |
| Bakeries and pastry shops | 37 | 6 | 3,082 | 12.0 |
| Clothing stores | 37 | 7 | 5,520 | 6.7 |
| Gyms and fitness studios | 29 | 8 | 3,331 | 8.7 |
| Car dealers | 11 | <5 | 2,779 | 4.0 |
| Pharmacies | <5 | <5 | 2,839 | — |
Restaurants lead with 206; hair and beauty salons (167) and dentists and dental clinics (159) are close behind. In Chicago itself, dentists and dental clinics are the largest sector of new records (80), ahead of restaurants (46) — 80 of the 159 new Illinois records in that sector are in the city. Read the dental figures with care: across 35 countries, 13.5% of new dental records carry a phone number that also appears on another new record, so one practice can stand behind several records. Relative to their size, cafés received the most new records (14.6 per 1,000).
How many list a phone or a website?
| On the record | New Illinois records | Share | Share in Chicago |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone number | 5,012 | 62.3% | 52.5% |
| Own website (own domain) | 2,718 | 33.8% | 33.3% |
| Website information (own website or platform page) | 3,365 | 41.9% | 50.9% |
| No website information | 4,675 | 58.1% | 49.1% |
62.3% of new Illinois records carry a phone number. The two website measures part company in Chicago: 33.3% of new Chicago records have their own domain, but 50.9% carry website information — more new Chicago businesses list a booking, appointment or other platform page without a site of their own. Statewide, 4,675 new records (58.1%) carry no website information. How that compares across countries: the share of businesses with a website.
What it means if you sell to new Illinois businesses
- Chicago is a quarter; the metro area is more. A territory built on the city alone gets 25.8% of the flow. Cook County takes in Chicago, Evanston, Schaumburg and Arlington Heights; DuPage, Kane and Will add Naperville, Aurora, Elgin and Joliet.
- Dental practices. 159 new dental records in Illinois, 80 of them in Chicago — buyers of equipment, supplies, imaging, practice software and insurance. Check the phone numbers before you count practices: one practice can have several records.
- Outside Chicagoland. Springfield, Rockford, Peoria and Champaign — 475 new records together in 30 days — are a route of their own for a field rep or a phone team. By county, Springfield is in Sangamon and Rockford in Winnebago; Peoria and Champaign share their names with their counties.
How to pull the Illinois list
- Location: United States, State: Illinois, then a county — or several, since the Chicago suburbs run across county lines.
- Section and category: newly opened businesses (the last 30 days, updated daily), then a sector or a narrower category. Categories are each record’s own: “dental clinic” and “orthodontist” are separate choices.
- Reach: Phone — has, for a call list; Website — none, for web design prospects.
- Count, open, watch: search and counts are free on every plan; a credit is spent only when you first open a record, and an export counts as an open (pricing). Save the search and new matches arrive by email every day.
Other ways to find openings, and what each one misses: how to find newly opened businesses.
Official business applications are a different count
The U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly series counts applications for an Employer Identification Number: 534,947 nationwide for September 2026, seasonally adjusted, 0.5% more than in August (U.S. Census Bureau · Business Formation Statistics, released October 14, 2026). An application can come months before a lease is signed, or with no premises at all; a dental group adding a second Naperville office usually needs no new one. We set the two series side by side and never subtract or divide one by the other — what the Census numbers measure.