Chicago goes into 2026 as the most tenant-friendly of the large US office markets. Loop landlords are competing with Fulton Market conversions and with suburban campuses along the O'Hare corridor, and the asking prices show it: our catalogue alone carries 630 private offices across 81 Chicago business centres, quoted anywhere from $1.16 to $6.97 per ft² a month.
What Chicago office space costs in 2026
A typical listed unit asks around $2.69 per ft² a month — about $32 a year on a gross basis, and well under half of what a comparable Manhattan floor commands. The spread matters more than the average. Twenty-four units in our set are priced below $2 per ft², 309 sit in the $2–$3 band, 129 fall between $3 and $4, and 121 ask $4 or more. The premium end is not the tallest tower: a 323 ft² fitted room at 332 S Michigan Avenue asks $6.97 per ft² — $2,250 a month — while a 15,306 ft² floor on level 23 of 110 North Wacker Drive asks $2.17, or $33,180.
Rent in dollars, not per foot
Monthly asking rents in the listing run from $121 to $60,726, and a typical unit lands near $2,770 a month. Sizes start at 43 ft² — a single desk inside a serviced centre — and reach 166,119 ft² at 444 W Lake Street. 188 units are 500 ft² or smaller, 69 of them under 200 ft²; at the other end, 42 units are 10,000 ft² or larger. In the 2,000–3,000 ft² band that suits a 15–25 person team, asking rents run $4,552 to $10,996, most often around $6,190 a month.
Where the demand sits
The Wacker Drive spine (ZIP 60606) is the deepest submarket we cover: 103 units from $1.45 to $6.50 per ft², typically $3.02, anchored by 30 South Wacker, 200 South Wacker Drive, 110 North Wacker Drive and 125 South Wacker — see all Chicago business centres on the map. North Michigan Avenue and Streeterville (60611) follow with 88 units at a typical $2.63, including the John Hancock Center and the Equitable Building at 401 North Michigan Avenue. River North (60654) carries 63 units, the New Eastside around Stetson and Randolph (60601) has 53, and the financial blocks near Jackson and LaSalle (60604) hold 48 at a typical $3.10.
What the numbers mean if you are leasing now
Two conclusions follow. First, per-foot pricing rewards size: nearly every large floor plate in the set prices under $3, while sub-500 ft² suites cluster above $4 — you pay a premium for small. Second, serviced formats have decoupled from the conventional lease. A coworking desk is a flat $385 a month, a meeting room books from $120, a business address costs $110 and a virtual office $100 — the same figure whether the centre sits on Wacker Drive or near O'Hare. If your headcount is under ten, price both routes before signing anything.
Every rate quoted above comes from a live unit. Compare the current Chicago office listings and filter by size, floor and asking price.