Local market data · Restaurants · Chicago
AI for restaurants in Chicago
The Chicago metro area had 7,262 restaurants in 2022, the 3rd most of 387 US metros and 3% of all in the country. They employed 141,525 people at an average of $30,681 a year. 46% 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.
Talk through your restaurant with the person who builds it
A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your restaurant to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.
Restaurants in Chicago vs the US
| Chicago metro | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 7,262 | 257,282 |
| People employed | 141,525 | 5,208,895 |
| Average staff per business | 19.5 | 20.2 |
| Average yearly pay per employee | $30,681 | $26,895 |
| Share with fewer than 10 staff | 46% | 44% |
Pay here is 14% higher than the national average for restaurants, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average restaurant here has 19.5 people on payroll, 4% lower than the US figure of 20.2.
How big restaurants in Chicago are
Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.
Restaurants by county in the Chicago area
Cook County has the most, with 4,260 of the metro's 7,262 (59%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, Chicago ranks 6th for average pay and 4th for the share of small firms.
| County | Businesses | Employees | Avg pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 4,260 | 82,679 | $34,201 |
| DuPage County | 759 | 16,709 | $29,893 |
| Lake County | 534 | 8,931 | $28,049 |
| Will County | 412 | 8,207 | $24,034 |
| Kane County | 398 | 7,383 | $25,106 |
| Lake County | 319 | 6,939 | $22,162 |
| McHenry County | 230 | 4,051 | $23,176 |
| Porter County | 133 | 2,988 | $20,587 |
| Kendall County | 78 | 1,574 | $20,738 |
| DeKalb County | 64 | 1,024 | $19,732 |
| Grundy County | 44 | 653 | $18,081 |
| Jasper County | 21 | 167 | $14,539 |
1 smaller counties not shown. Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.
Where AI helps a restaurant first
Start with the work that eats your hours without filling a single table: the phone ringing during service, reservation back-and-forth, review replies, supplier emails and the weekly numbers. AI can answer the routine questions, draft the replies and pull the figures together while you and your managers keep the dining room and the decisions. Westward builds these for restaurants, and it starts with a free 30-minute call with the founder.
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$114,000 a year
The share you would hand off$34,200 a year
Hours your team gets back2,280 a year
See what we would build for thisGuides for restaurants, one job each
- Get more customers for restaurants
- Never miss a call for restaurants
- Follow up automatically for restaurants
- Booking and scheduling for restaurants
- More reviews for restaurants
- Marketing and content for restaurants
- Show up on Google and ChatGPT for restaurants
- Cut admin and paperwork for restaurants
- A dashboard that runs itself for restaurants
Restaurants in other big metros
| Metro | Businesses | Avg pay | Rank of 387 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 11,173 | $32,562 | 2nd |
| New York | 19,305 | $36,792 | 1st |
| Miami | 5,478 | $31,631 | 5th |
| Dallas | 5,485 | $27,783 | 4th |
| Houston | 4,980 | $25,817 | 7th |
| Atlanta | 4,907 | $25,977 | 8th |
| Washington | 4,723 | $30,691 | 9th |
| Philadelphia | 4,363 | $25,226 | 11th |
| Boston | 4,572 | $32,761 | 10th |
Where these numbers come from
From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 722511 (Full-service restaurants), 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 restaurant can get back
A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your restaurant to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.