Chicago's Top Earners Drive Spending
A recent market update reports that Chicago's top 20% of earners own approximately 70% of the city's investable assets. This concentration of wealth is a primary driver of high-end discretionary spending on luxury goods and services, even as the broader consumer base tightens its belt.
- The wealth gap in Chicago is starkly defined by race; the median net worth for white families is $210,000, while for U.S.-born Mexican families it is $40,500, and for Black families, it is effectively $0. - While overall retail sales growth in the Chicago area slowed in the first half of 2024, the slowdown was particularly sharp in the restaurant sector; spending at eating and drinking establishments grew by only 3.5%, a significant drop from the 11% increase seen in the first half of 2023. - The concentration of wealth has a distinct geography, with a typical household's wealth in the richest parts of Cook County being 206 times higher than in the poorest areas. - As a sign of pressure on the broader consumer base, 45.1% of Chicago's renting families spent at least 30% of their income on rent in 2023, forcing them to cut back on essentials like groceries after rent hikes. - Middle and higher-income consumers are continuing to increase their monthly retail spending, even as lower-income consumers have stopped increasing theirs. - The average Chicago-area household spent $4,567 on food away from home in the 2023-24 period, which accounted for 39% of their total food budget. - Despite a slowing pace, Chicagoland's regional economy surpassed $886 billion in 2024 and was named the top metro area for corporate relocations and expansions for the 12th consecutive year.
