?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Franchise expansion · Illinois

Best cities to expand a franchise in Illinois

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Franchise expansion” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on businesses per 1k residents, median household income, avg. weekly wage, crime index. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Top 10 · computed ranking
  1. 1.Oswego, IL36k residents

    90/100

    population: 36k · median household income: $123,792 · crime index: 50/100

  2. 2.Naperville, IL151k residents

    80/100

    population: 151k · median household income: $155,105 · crime index: 50/100

  3. 3.Plainfield, IL47k residents

    79/100

    population: 47k · median household income: $144,000 · crime index: 50/100

  4. 4.Bolingbrook, IL74k residents

    73/100

    population: 74k · median household income: $108,400 · crime index: 50/100

  5. 5.Crystal Lake, IL41k residents

    73/100

    population: 41k · median household income: $108,418 · crime index: 50/100

  6. 6.Romeoville, IL41k residents

    72/100

    population: 41k · median household income: $106,325 · crime index: 50/100

  7. 7.Bloomington, IL79k residents

    71/100

    population: 79k · median household income: $77,384 · crime index: 50/100

  8. 8.Belleville, IL41k residents

    71/100

    population: 41k · median household income: $63,535 · crime index: 50/100

  9. 9.DeKalb, IL40k residents

    71/100

    population: 40k · median household income: $46,481 · crime index: 50/100

  10. 10.Joliet, IL150k residents

    70/100

    population: 150k · median household income: $92,201 · crime index: 50/100

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is best to expand a franchise in Illinois?
Oswego, IL ranks first with a fit score of 90/100, followed by Naperville (80) and Plainfield (79), using the "Franchise expansion" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on businesses per 1k residents, median household income, avg. weekly wage, crime index, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.