State registry

How many elevators are in Illinois?

37,314 elevators and conveyances are on record in Illinois, 37,314 of them active in the device registry.

Illinois's statewide list excludes the City of Chicago, which runs its own elevator program.

37,314

active devices

27 yrs

median age

21,616

25+ years old

9,758

40+ years old

Where the elevators are

By county

Active registered devices by county. Cook County leads with 12,374.

Age of the installed base

Modernization map

Elevators are typically modernized at 25 to 30 years and replaced past 40. Based on install year for 37,275 active devices.

0-10 yrs4,769

10-20 yrs6,893

20-30 yrs9,990

30-40 yrs6,391

40-50 yrs3,888

50+ yrs5,344

Oldest still running

Install years are self-reported to the registry and occasionally reflect the building rather than the car; the very oldest entries are shown with their location so you can judge.

Installed	City	Location on record
1900		1207 W Gregory Dr, Urbana, IL 61801-4733
1900		204 E Peabody Dr, Champaign, IL 61820-6795
1900		603 E Daniel St, Champaign, IL 61820-6232
1900		103 S Randall Rd, Algonquin, IL 60102-9773
1900		505 E Armory St, Champaign, IL 61820-6237
1900		1500 Lee St, Des Plaines, IL 60018-1544

By device type

35,483 elevators (95%)

760 escalators (2%)

713 dumbwaiters (2%)

358 lifts (1%)

Permit activity in Illinois

The markets we track in Illinois, with contractor leaderboards: Chicago (22,184).

Get Illinois in the weekly dispatch: new counts, oldest finds, and modernization movers.

Device data from public state and city registries; see methodology. Permit activity (who is doing the work) lives on the market pages; the running national total is on The Count.