Downers Grove Named Among Best Places to Start a Business in Illinois

Downers Grove is the 16th best place to start a business in Illinois, according to a recent study.

Consumer finance site NerdWallet used census data from 285 places in Illinois to measure an overall score based on two main factors:

• Business climate: average revenue of businesses, percentage of businesses with paid employees and businesses per 100 people
• Local economic health: median annual income, median monthly housing costs and unemployment rate

At No. 16 on the list, Downers Grove is sandwiched between No. 15 Libertyville and No. 17 Schaumburg.

Unemployment in Downers Grove falls at 5.1 percent. A population of 48,964 supports the village’s 6,575 businesses, according to the study. The average revenue per business is $3,210,356.

Downers Grove earned an overall score of 44.41. Oak Brook was ranked No. 1 with a score of 64.26, and Dolton fell to the bottom of the list with a 14.08 overall score.

Nearby Lisle earned the 10th-best spot on the list, but Woodridge was ranked No. 196.

Read more about the methodology of this study from NerdWallet.