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Plumbing permits in suburban Cook County, IL

Data through December 2025 · updated 20 Oct 2026

15,170 plumbing permits were issued in suburban Cook County, January 2024 through December 2025: about 7,585 a year and 8% of all permits. 7,950 plumbing permits in the last 12 months on file (Jan 2025–Dec 2025), 10% more than the 7,220 in the 12 months before. The busiest month is April.

What this file covers: This is the Cook County Assessor's copy of the permits the suburbs send in, so it holds only the permits a suburb reported. About 10% of suburbs had not sent their 2026 permits when it was read, so the counts end in December 2025.

15,170permits issued
7,950last 12 months on file
Aprbusiest month
$5,137usual declared value
Dec 2025records through

Plumbing permits by month

Permits issued each month, January 2024 through December 2025.

Jan 2024: 530Jan2024Feb 2024: 634Mar 2024: 656Apr 2024: 663May 2024: 612Jun 2024: 557Jul 2024: 565JulAug 2024: 621Sep 2024: 639Oct 2024: 688Nov 2024: 510Dec 2024: 545Jan 2025: 667Jan2025Feb 2025: 518Mar 2025: 751Apr 2025: 781May 2025: 657Jun 2025: 766Jul 2025: 679JulAug 2025: 704Sep 2025: 683Oct 2025: 655Nov 2025: 543Dec 2025: 546
The same numbers as a table
MonthPermits
Jan 2024530
Feb 2024634
Mar 2024656
Apr 2024663
May 2024612
Jun 2024557
Jul 2024565
Aug 2024621
Sep 2024639
Oct 2024688
Nov 2024510
Dec 2024545
Jan 2025667
Feb 2025518
Mar 2025751
Apr 2025781
May 2025657
Jun 2025766
Jul 2025679
Aug 2025704
Sep 2025683
Oct 2025655
Nov 2025543
Dec 2025546

Download this table (CSV)

When plumbing permits are filed

By calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line). April is the busiest (114), November the quietest (83). A busy month at the permit counter usually means a longer wait for a contractor.

January: 95 (100 = an average month)February: 91 (100 = an average month)March: 111 (100 = an average month)April: 114 (100 = an average month)114May: 100 (100 = an average month)June: 105 (100 = an average month)July: 98 (100 = an average month)August: 105 (100 = an average month)September: 105 (100 = an average month)October: 106 (100 = an average month)November: 83 (100 = an average month)December: 86 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND
The same numbers as a table
MonthIndex
January95
February91
March111
April114
May100
June105
July98
August105
September105
October106
November83
December86

Download this table (CSV)

What a plumbing permit is declared at

The value written on the permit at application, from 14,369 permits with one. Not a quote and not the final bill.

MeasureValue
Usual declared value$5,137
Middle half$2,082–$8,800

Download this table (CSV)

The county's own permit types

How the county filed these permits. We group its types into kinds of work; this is the split.

Permit typePermitsShare
Other - Minor New Construction6,97646%
Other - Remodeling5,60337%
Fireplace-Central Air Conditioning4453%
(none)3863%
Other Remodeling2742%
Remodeling - Interior Only2602%
Replace-Repair Building - Factory2572%
Basement-Attic Room Bath1791%
Exempt Properties1621%
Remodeling - Exterior Only132under 1%

Download this table (CSV)

Nearby permit data

Plumbing permits for other places in Chicago. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

How these numbers are made

Source: Cook County Assessor's Office, Assessor - Permits (Cook County Open Data, dataset 6yjf-dfxs), read 20 Oct 2026. We count permits issued January 2024 through December 2025; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The file carries no usable permit status, so it can't say which permits were finished, so no finished share is shown.

Building permits from the suburbs of Cook County (Evanston, Schaumburg, Berwyn, Cicero, Oak Park, Des Plaines, Orland Park, Skokie and about 115 other cities, villages and towns, plus unincorporated areas), as the suburbs report them to the Cook County Assessor. Chicago is not counted here: it has its own pages on this site. Each suburb issues its own permits; this file is the Assessor's copy, so it holds only the permits a suburb sent in.

  • The file names no contractor (the applicant is usually the homeowner), so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages here.
  • Suburbs send their permits to the Assessor weeks to months after issue, and by October 2026 about a tenth of them had not yet sent 2026 permits, so the window ends in December 2025, the last month with near-complete reporting.
  • The file's status is the Assessor's own review of each permit for property tax, not a final inspection, and the file has no final dates, so we show no finished share and no time to final; every permit is listed as open.
  • The kind of work comes from each suburb's short work description, which the Assessor calls more reliable than its own codes. Driveways, patios, decks, signs and fire alarm work fall under Other.
  • The value is the job value the suburb recorded on the permit.
  • The file has no ZIP code we can publish, so there are no ZIP code pages.
  • A permit that covers several parcels (a condo building, say) is counted once.

Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. Sources and definitions →

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:

Contractor Records, "Plumbing permits in suburban Cook County, IL", https://contractorrecords.com/cook-county/plumbing-permits, data through December 2025, from the suburbs of Cook County (as reported to the Cook County Assessor's Office) building-permit records.

Link to a table: By month · Season · Declared value · Permit types.

Download the tables (CSV): Plumbing permits by month · Plumbing permits by calendar month (index) · Plumbing permits: declared value · Plumbing permits by permit type.

Common questions

  • How many plumbing permits does Suburban Cook County issue a year?About 7,585 a year in suburban Cook County: 15,170 permits issued January 2024 through December 2025, 7,950 of them in the last 12 months on file (to December 2025).
  • When do people in Suburban Cook County file the most plumbing permits?April (114 against an average month of 100); November is the quietest (83). If you can choose, a quiet month at the permit counter can mean contractors have more room in their schedules.