> **Illinois SEO Market Map: Local Competition by City** > How competitive local search is in 5 Illinois cities across 12 industries, scored on one national scale. See what your market needs. [SEO Market Map](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/) Illinois SEO Market Map · Illinois · 5 cities · 12 trades # Today’s SEO forecast for *Illinois*. Illinois ranks 8th of 14 states for search competition, at 54 against a median of 54 across the 14 states measured so far. Its hardest trade is dentists (67); its calmest is pool companies (41). Pick yours. All trades Plumbing HVAC Roofing Electricians Landscaping Pest control Pool companies Dentists Law firms Med spas Veterinarians Chiropractors [Run myfree audit](https://seoeliteagency.com/free-seo-audit/) [Booka call](https://seoeliteagency.hbportal.co/public/69bccfccf61f1d002932ebbe) The five-city outlook ## Where search is calm, and where it is *severe*. Joliet is calmest at 48; Chicago runs at 67. Clouds building ### Joliet 48 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest Dentists · 64 Calmest Electricians · 31 Clouds building ### Rockford 49 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest Pest control · 58 Calmest Electricians · 27 Storms likely ### Aurora 53 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest HVAC · 64 Calmest Pool companies · 35 Storms likely ### Naperville 55 / 100 Local SEO needed Hardest Dentists · 72 Calmest Pool companies · 42 Severe ### Chicago 67 / 100 Full SEO plus paid Hardest Law firms · 80 Calmest Landscaping · 52 The Illinois radar ## Chicago runs *hottest*. Chicago, Naperville, Aurora, Rockford and Joliet, stormiest first. - **67** Chicago *Severe* - **55** Naperville *Storms likely* - **53** Aurora *Storms likely* - **49** Rockford *Clouds building* - **48** Joliet *Clouds building* - **Clear skies 0–19 - **Mostly sunny 20–34 - **Clouds building 35–49 - **Storms likely 50–64 - **Severe 65–100 State lines: US Census Bureau. Numbered pins follow the key, stormiest first. What we found ## Inside Illinois’s *numbers*. - **Chicago** (67): toughest, law firms at 80, where the top three hold 1,365 reviews at the median and 20 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, landscaping at 52 (154 at the median). - **Naperville** (55): toughest, dentists at 72, where the top three hold 708 reviews at the median and 20 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, pool companies at 42 (23 at the median). - **Aurora** (53): toughest, HVAC at 64, where the top three hold 469 reviews at the median and 14 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, pool companies at 35 (8 at the median). - **Rockford** (49): toughest, pest control at 58, where the top three hold 377 reviews at the median and 8 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, electricians at 27 (10 at the median). - **Joliet** (48): toughest, dentists at 64, where the top three hold 1,191 reviews at the median and 18 of 20 rivals have passed 100. Calmest, electricians at 31 (25 at the median). The deepest review moat in Illinois: HVAC in Chicago, where the top three hold 2,597 reviews at the median. The thinnest: pool companies in Rockford, at 7. Ratings run lowest for pool companies in Aurora (3.94 stars across the top ten) and highest for med spas in Rockford (4.98). We read 178 top-ranking competitor sites across Illinois’s searches. WordPress runs 92 of them; 47 are custom or another builder. 59% carry local business markup, against 54% across every state measured, and 65% changed their sitemap in the last year. ### Each trade, calmest city to toughest - **Plumbing** Rockford 50 → Chicago 78 - **HVAC** Joliet 49 → Chicago 73 - **Roofing** Joliet 42 → Rockford 57 - **Electricians** Rockford 27 → Chicago 66 - **Landscaping** Rockford 41 → Chicago 52 - **Pest control** Joliet 34 → Aurora 59 - **Pool companies** Rockford 33 → Chicago 59 - **Dentists** Rockford 58 → Chicago 77 - **Law firms** Rockford 52 → Chicago 80 - **Med spas** Rockford 48 → Chicago 72 - **Veterinarians** Joliet 52 → Chicago 63 - **Chiropractors** Joliet 49 → Chicago 65 What a searcher sees on the map ## The view from the *phone*. City Chicago Aurora Naperville Joliet Rockford Trade Plumbing HVAC Roofing Electricians Landscaping Pest control Pool companies Dentists Law firms Med spas Veterinarians Chiropractors 80 / 100 Severe Competitors with deep review counts and built-out websites hold the top spots. This market rewards full SEO, with paid search to buy time while it builds. - **1,365** median reviews among the top three - **20** of the top 20 with 100 or more reviews - **4.9** average stars across the top 10 9:41 ** G personal injury lawyer near Chicago ★ **4.9** 1,365 reviews ★ **4.9** 1,365 reviews ★ **4.9** 1,365 reviews **Top 20 on the map** **************************************** 20 with 100+ reviews Drawn from the measured Google Maps results. Names are never shown. The full forecast ## Every city, every *trade*. Illinois by city and trade, read 2026-10-29. [Methodology](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/methodology/). City [Plumbing](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-plumbing/) [HVAC](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-hvac/) [Roofing](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-roofing-contractors/) [Electricians](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-electricians/) [Landscaping](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-landscaping/) [Pest control](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-pest-control/) [Pool companies](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-pool-companies/) [Dentists](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-dentistry/) [Law firms](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-law-office/) [Med spas](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-medspa/) [Veterinarians](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-veterinarians/) [Chiropractors](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-for-chiropractic/) Chicago 78 73 56 66 52 58 59 77 80 72 63 65 Aurora 58 64 49 46 42 59 35 62 60 49 60 51 Naperville 58 60 57 43 50 45 42 72 55 63 56 60 Joliet 55 49 42 31 49 34 37 64 57 56 52 49 Rockford 50 51 57 27 41 58 33 58 52 48 54 58 Keep reading the map [The national forecast](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/)[Alabama · 54](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/alabama/)[Georgia · 55](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/georgia/)[Idaho · 53](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/idaho/)[Indiana · 55](https://seoeliteagency.com/seo-market-map/indiana/) ## Start with *the audit*. About 60 seconds, no email, and you get named findings for your own site, not a score out of a hundred. [Run myfree audit](https://seoeliteagency.com/free-seo-audit/) [Book a callinstead](https://seoeliteagency.hbportal.co/public/69bccfccf61f1d002932ebbe)