How many sign shops are in the Chicago area?

Name: Sign shops in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area, 2024
Creator: Sign Trade Data
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

216 sign shops

in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area in 2024. The BLS withheld employment and pay for this area to protect individual employers. Sign shops make up a 37% larger share of local private employers than they do nationally.

Shops vs 2023-3.1%7 fewer shops than 2023

Concentration1.37×the national share of employers

Employees—withheld by BLS

Average pay—withheld by BLS

The Chicago area among U.S. metro areas

#	Metro area	Sign shops	Employees	Avg pay	Concentration
1	New York areaNY-NJ	382	—	—	0.91×
2	Los Angeles areaCA	263	2,548	$64,368	0.58×
3	Dallas areaTX	230	—	—	1.73×
4	Chicago areaIL-IN	216	—	—	1.37×
5	Atlanta areaGA	208	—	—	1.48×
6	Miami areaFL	175	1,001	$61,945	1.01×
7	Houston areaTX	161	—	—	1.45×

All 383 metro areas are ranked on the metro list. The Chicago area crosses state lines (Illinois, Indiana) and is counted whole. For Illinois as a whole, with 2025 figures and the trend since 2014, see the Illinois page.

Other metro areas in Illinois

Metro area	Sign shops	Employees	Avg pay	Concentration
St. Louis area	53	—	—	0.89×
Rockford area	9	—	—	2.12×
Bloomington area	6	47	$40,767	2.84×
Davenport area	6	28	$50,816	0.91×
Peoria area	6	—	—	1.23×
Paducah area	3	3	$38,669	1.28×
Springfield area	3	—	—	0.92×
Cape Girardeau area	2	—	—	1.01×

Sign permits in Naperville

Every city in the area permits signs under its own code. For Naperville, PrinterFlo's summary of the Naperville sign code covers which signs need a permit, the size and height limits, and what the city checks before a sign goes up.

Questions

How many sign shops are in the Chicago area?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 216 sign manufacturing establishments in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area in 2024 (annual average, private employers), rank 4 of 383 U.S. metro areas.

What do sign shops pay in the Chicago area?

The BLS withheld employment and pay for sign shops in the Chicago area in 2024, to protect individual employers. Statewide, Illinois's sign shops paid an average of $71,991 that year.

Does the Chicago area have more sign shops than average?

Relative to its size, yes: sign shops make up a 37% larger share of the Chicago area's private employers than they do across the U.S. (a location quotient of 1.37, where 1.00 is the national share).

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), annual averages, private ownership, NAICS 339950 Sign Manufacturing, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan statistical area, 2024 and 2023 annual averages, read September 24, 2026. 2024 is the latest year the BLS has published for metro areas. Concentration is the BLS location quotient for establishments. Ranks computed from the 383 metro areas with a published count; tied areas share a rank.