Nationally, Chicago ranks third, behind New York and Los Angeles, contributing 3.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States, or a GDP in current dollars of 610.5 billion dollars across all of its industries.

Chicago is considered a world-class financial center because of its innovation in the sector. Its institutions — world-renowned research centers and universities — contribute to the process of economic innovation by funding new companies and working directly with them.

It is a crucial city for air transport and freight transport (one out of every six vehicles on Chicago’s interstate highways is a truck). This has an impact on both the regional and the North American economy. Transportation and logistics generate considerable value and employment for the region by creating high value-added jobs.

Chicago is home to 230,624 small businesses, and 104 have been included in the Inc. list of the 5000 fastest-growing companies. Chicago is now considered one of the best places to invest in startups.

Chicago has traditionally been a leader in the manufacturing industry. Although it has recently lost ground, specialization in this area remains respectable compared with other U.S. metropolitan regions (it accounts for 11.4% of employment).

It has top-tier academic and research institutions such as Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, which rank among the 30 best scientific universities in the world and among the 12 best in business, economics and engineering.