What is the cost of a home renovation in Chicago?

Renovation permits in Chicago were usually filed at $65,000, across 7,764 permits, with the middle half of 754 firms between $40,000 and $137,500. A smaller interior remodel was usually filed at $20,388.

What is the cost to build a house in Chicago?

New-home permits were usually filed at $440,000 across 1,090 permits, with the middle half of 105 builders between $377,675 and $775,000. Builders on the most expensive third of lots usually file $650,000, against $350,000 on the least expensive third (Chicago new-home cost page).

How much does garage construction cost in Chicago?

Garage permits were usually filed at $26,312 (1,821 permits), with the middle half of 37 garage builders between $14,000 and $27,000. The usual garage permit took 106 days from issue to final.

How much does roof replacement cost in Chicago?

Roofing permits were usually filed at $18,693 (1,586 permits), with the middle half of 109 roofers between $11,475 and $23,000.

How much is a building permit in Chicago?

Under the Department of Buildings' 2025 fee tables, a minimum fee of $302 applies to all permits. The tables set fees with scope-of-review factors and floor area; the City's online permit fee calculator gives the figure for a specific job.

Chicago, IL home improvement costs (2026): 9 jobs

What each job was filed at

"Usual" is the middle permit: half were filed for less, half for more. "Middle half of firms" takes every firm with three or more permits in the trade, finds each firm's usual job, and shows the band the middle 50% of firms sit in; it is the number to hold a quote against.

Job	Usual filed value	Middle half of firms	Permits (share priced)	Usual days to final	Pages
Fence	$5,000	$3,150–$7,340	1,583 (100.0%)	160	cost · compare firms
Windows & doors	$8,000	$5,000–$18,000	497 (100.0%)	227	cost · compare firms
Porch & deck	$10,000	$8,000–$16,000	797 (100.0%)	145	cost · compare firms
Solar panels	$17,784	$15,125–$29,940	5,027 (100.0%)	57	cost · compare firms
Roof replacement	$18,693	$11,475–$23,000	1,586 (100.0%)	207	cost · compare firms
Interior remodel	$20,388	$10,000–$42,318	1,355 (99.9%)	1,244	cost · compare firms
Garage	$26,312	$14,000–$27,000	1,821 (100.0%)	106	cost · compare firms
Renovation	$65,000	$40,000–$137,500	7,764 (99.5%)	666	cost · compare firms
New home	$440,000	$377,675–$775,000	1,090 (99.8%)	621	cost · compare firms

Chicago files a gut job and a smaller interior job under different permit types, so "renovation" (7,764 permits) and "interior remodel" (1,355) are separate rows. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC and masonry have compare pages but no cost page.

Chicago permits stay open a long time: the usual interior remodel took 1,244 days from issue to final and the usual renovation 666. Those days run to the final inspection, not to the end of the work.

What moves the price in Chicago

The home. Each cost page splits firms into thirds by the usual value of the homes they work on (Cook County Assessor values). Chicago's single-family value figure is $250,000.

Job	Firms on the least expensive third	Firms on the most expensive third
Windows & doors	$7,000	$20,000
Porch & deck	$6,500	$14,000
Solar panels	$16,685	$30,564
Renovation	$70,000	$100,025
Garage	$30,434	$25,050

Figures from each cost page, data of 17 October 2026. Window jobs nearly triple with home value and porches double; garages go slightly the other way.

The firm. In renovations the ten busiest firms usually file $22,750 a permit, while the 2,465 firms with fewer than ten permits usually file $80,000 (Chicago renovation cost page). A busy firm's low usual figure means many smaller jobs, not a cheap rate.

The season. Roofing permits peak in August (index 164, where 100 is an average month) and are fewest in January (36). We have no prices by month.

What a Chicago permit costs

The Department of Buildings' 2025 fee tables (effective 1 January 2025, under section 14A-12-1204 of the Municipal Code; read 22 October 2026) set building permit fees with scope-of-review factors for new construction and rehabilitation and with floor area, and say a minimum fee of $302 applies to all permits. For a figure on your own job, use the City's permit fee calculator linked under Sources.

Filed value is not the price

It is what the applicant wrote down. Some contractors write the contract price, some the permitted part only.
Long-open permits. The usual roofing permit took 207 days to reach final; ask who is responsible for calling the final inspection.
Two permit types for one kind of job. Read whether a firm's permits on the compare page are renovations or interior remodels before comparing its usual figure with a quote.

Check a quote in five minutes

Find your job in the table and open its cost page.
Put your quote against the "middle half of firms" band. Inside it is normal here; above it, ask what the extra covers.
Open compare firms, find the contractor, and read its usual filed value, permit count and finished share.
Put "permit closed with a final inspection" in the contract; the usual interior-remodel permit here stayed open 1,244 days.

Single-job guides: roof replacement cost, detached garage cost, new home construction cost. To check a Chicago licence, see Chicago contractor license lookup.

How we know this

Every row is a permit type with a cost page: the City of Chicago issued at least 100 priced permits of it in the window 2023-10 to 2026-09, making up at least 80% of the type. Usual = median of the permits that carry a value; middle half of firms = 25th to 75th percentile of the usual value of firms with three or more permits in the trade (shown when at least eight firms qualify); days = median from permit issue to final inspection. Home-value thirds and busiest-firm figures are copied from each job's cost page and dated. The fee basis is quoted from the Department of Buildings' 2025 fee tables linked under Sources.

Numbers come from City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal), data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

Compare every Chicago renovation firm by usual job and finished share →

Questions

What is the cost of a home renovation in Chicago?
Renovation permits in Chicago were usually filed at $65,000, across 7,764 permits, with the middle half of 754 firms between $40,000 and $137,500. A smaller interior remodel was usually filed at $20,388.
What is the cost to build a house in Chicago?
New-home permits were usually filed at $440,000 across 1,090 permits, with the middle half of 105 builders between $377,675 and $775,000. Builders on the most expensive third of lots usually file $650,000, against $350,000 on the least expensive third (Chicago new-home cost page).
How much does garage construction cost in Chicago?
Garage permits were usually filed at $26,312 (1,821 permits), with the middle half of 37 garage builders between $14,000 and $27,000. The usual garage permit took 106 days from issue to final.
How much does roof replacement cost in Chicago?
Roofing permits were usually filed at $18,693 (1,586 permits), with the middle half of 109 roofers between $11,475 and $23,000.
How much is a building permit in Chicago?
Under the Department of Buildings' 2025 fee tables, a minimum fee of $302 applies to all permits. The tables set fees with scope-of-review factors and floor area; the City's online permit fee calculator gives the figure for a specific job.