Local market data · General contractors · Chicago
AI for general contractors in Chicago
The Chicago metro area had 6,625 general contractors in 2022, the 3rd most of 387 US metros and 3% of all in the country. They employed 17,864 people at an average of $61,325 a year. 96% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.
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General contractors in Chicago vs the US
| Chicago metro | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 6,625 | 209,456 |
| People employed | 17,864 | 882,519 |
| Average staff per business | 2.7 | 4.2 |
| Average yearly pay per employee | $61,325 | $68,679 |
| Share with fewer than 10 staff | 96% | 92% |
Pay here is 11% lower than the national average for general contractors, so every hour of staff time costs less to spend on admin. The average general contractor here has 2.7 people on payroll, 36% lower than the US figure of 4.2.
How big general contractors in Chicago are
Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.
General contractors by county in the Chicago area
Cook County has the most, with 3,574 of the metro's 6,625 (54%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, Chicago ranks 10th for average pay and 1st for the share of small firms.
| County | Businesses | Employees | Avg pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 3,574 | 8,689 | $61,060 |
| DuPage County | 884 | 3,125 | $71,472 |
| Lake County | 572 | 1,280 | $57,734 |
| Will County | 419 | 1,118 | $57,087 |
| Kane County | 378 | 1,182 | $62,559 |
| McHenry County | 276 | 621 | $48,238 |
| Lake County | 221 | 845 | $56,102 |
| Porter County | 114 | 429 | $49,811 |
| Kendall County | 96 | 313 | $55,760 |
| DeKalb County | 41 | 132 | $59,447 |
| Jasper County | 23 | 78 | $46,244 |
| Grundy County | 22 | 45 | $43,156 |
1 smaller counties not shown. Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.
Where AI helps a general contractor first
General contractors get the most from AI in the work around the build: screening incoming leads, chasing subcontractor quotes, writing daily logs and change orders, and keeping clients updated. Nothing on site changes. What changes is how many evenings go to paperwork and phone tag. Westward builds these tools to fit how a contractor already runs jobs.
What your team's admin hours cost in Chicago
Change any number. The starting values are the Chicago averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.
Those hours cost you$34,800 a year
The share you would hand off$10,440 a year
Hours your team gets back360 a year
See what we would build for thisGuides for general contractors, one job each
- Get more customers for general contractors
- Never miss a call for general contractors
- Follow up automatically for general contractors
- Booking and scheduling for general contractors
- More reviews for general contractors
- Marketing and content for general contractors
- Show up on Google and ChatGPT for general contractors
- Cut admin and paperwork for general contractors
- A dashboard that runs itself for general contractors
General contractors in other big metros
| Metro | Businesses | Avg pay | Rank of 387 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 7,604 | $68,657 | 2nd |
| New York | 16,875 | $68,528 | 1st |
| Miami | 3,984 | $73,014 | 7th |
| Dallas | 3,195 | $114,161 | 11th |
| Houston | 2,659 | $106,467 | 14th |
| Atlanta | 3,590 | $87,266 | 10th |
| Washington | 3,864 | $80,815 | 9th |
| Philadelphia | 3,968 | $68,056 | 8th |
| Boston | 4,095 | $87,714 | 5th |
Where these numbers come from
From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 2361 (Residential building construction), for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (13 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.
Find the hours your construction company can get back
A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your general contractor to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.