?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Pick an HQ · Illinois

Best cities to put your HQ in Illinois

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Pick an HQ” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Re-rank for your priorities
Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Naperville, IL151k residents

    63/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 72.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,200/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  2. 2.Oswego, IL36k residents

    59/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 44.3% · avg. weekly wage: $989/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  3. 3.Plainfield, IL47k residents

    58/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 56% · avg. weekly wage: $1,200/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  4. 4.Crystal Lake, IL41k residents

    58/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 42% · avg. weekly wage: $1,097/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  5. 5.Bolingbrook, IL74k residents

    57/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 39.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,200/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  6. 6.St. Charles, IL33k residents

    57/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 52% · avg. weekly wage: $1,251/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  7. 7.Aurora, IL180k residents

    56/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 38.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,251/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  8. 8.Wheaton, IL54k residents

    56/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 64.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,575/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  9. 9.Belleville, IL41k residents

    56/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 28% · avg. weekly wage: $1,140/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

  10. 10.Chicago, IL2.7M residents

    55/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 44.3% · avg. weekly wage: $1,740/wk · corporate income tax: 9.5%

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 put your HQ in Illinois?
Naperville, IL ranks first with a fit score of 63/100, followed by Oswego (59) and Plainfield (58), using the "Pick an HQ" 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 bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.