Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States, with a metropolitan area of over 9 million people. It is home to over 1,250 completed high-rises, 137 of which stand taller than . The birthplace of the skyscraper, Chicago has always played a prominent role in their development, and its skyline spans the full history of skyscraper construction. The tallest building in the city is the 110-story Willis Tower (also known as the Sears Tower), which rises in the Chicago Loop and was completed in 1974. Of the fifteen tallest buildings in the United States, five are in Chicago. Chicago's skyline is the second largest in the United States, in North America, and in the Western Hemisphere, after New York City.
The Home Insurance Building, completed in 1885, is regarded as the world's first skyscraper. This building used the steel-frame method, innovated in Chicago; it was originally built with 10 stories, and later expanded to 12, to a height of , an enormous height for the 19th century. Being the inventor of the skyscraper, Chicago went through a series of early high-rise construction booms that lasted from the 1880s to the mid-1930s, during which nine of the city's 100 tallest buildings were completed. Chicago and New York City were the only cities in the world with large, high-rise skylines during the first half of the 20th century. Chicago then went through an even larger building boom that lasted from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, in which many notable commercial skyscrapers were built, such as the city's fourth-tallest building, the Aon Center, its fifth tallest, 875 North Michigan Avenue (originally known as the John Hancock Center), and Willis Tower, which was the tallest building in the world upon its completion until 1993, and the tallest in the United States until 2013. For most of the 20th century until the 1990s, Chicago had the second largest skyline in the world.
A third boom began in the 2000s, which saw the completion of the city's second tallest building, the Trump International Hotel & Tower, and its third tallest, St Regis Chicago, the tallest structure designed by a woman. Chicago leads the nation in the twenty tallest women-designed towers in the world, thanks to contributions by Jeanne Gang and Natalie de Blois. The skyline has expanded into the South Loop with skyscrapers such as NEMA Chicago and One Museum Park, as well as westwards into the West Loop and Fulton Market areas. Wolf Point is home to a number of new developments such as Salesforce Tower Chicago. Other notable new skyscrapers include 110 North Wacker (2020), One Chicago Square (2022), and 1000M (2024). The tallest building under construction is 400 Lake Shore, built on the site of the cancelled Chicago Spire project; it scheduled to be completed by 2027.
The tallest buildings in Chicago are concentrated in the downtown areas of the Loop, Streeterville, River North, the South Loop, and the West Loop. Other high-rises extend north along the waterfront into North Side districts such as the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Uptown and Edgewater, bounded by Lake Michigan to the east. Some high-rises also extend south from downtown along the waterfront to South Side districts such as Kenwood, Hyde Park, and South Shore, ultimately forming a contiguous area of high-rises that is among the largest in the United States. Chicago's skyline is a cultural icon of the city, and has appeared in a variety of films and popular media.
Towards the second half of the 19th century, Chicago grew to become the second-largest city in the United States as a railroad and trading hub. After the Great Chicago Fire destroyed most of the wooden structures in the city in 1871, Chicago was rebuilt on large plots of land in a grid network and followed new city ordinances that prohibited wooden construction. These factors encouraged the construction of taller buildings in Chicago. New technologies such as the development of the elevator and in heating, lighting, and ventilation made taller buildings more viable.
The first skyscraper in the world is considered to be the 10-story Home Insurance Building, built in 1885, due to its use of structural steel in a metal frame design. The building was designed by William Le Baron Jenney, who had been trained as an engineer in France and was a leading architect in Chicago. The design was innovative, incorporating structural steel into the building's internal metal frame alongside the traditional wrought iron. This frame took the weight of the floors of the building, and in addition, helped to support the weight of the external walls, proving an important step towards creating the genuine non-structural curtain walls that became a feature of later skyscrapers.These innovations caught on quickly in Chicago, as the city's earliest high-rises followed suit. Among the world's first high-rise boom occurred in Chicago from 1888 onwards, and by 1893, Chicago had built 12 skyscrapers between 16 and 20 stories tall, tightly clustered in the center of the financial district. These include the Tacoma Building, The Rookery, Monadnock Building, and the Rand McNally Building, which was the world's first all-steel framed skyscraper. Structural engineers specializing in the steel frame design began to establish practices in Chicago.
One of the tallest buildings completed during this boom was the Masonic Temple, built by the Freemasons at a time when they were a fast-growing community in the city. The Freemasons competed with a local rival, the Odd Fellows, who intended to build a much higher skyscraper, tall, that would have been the tallest building in the world, which was never built. Until the turn of the 20th century, Chicago led New York City in high-rise construction. It was not until 1895 when New York City would surpass Chicago in the height of its high-rises, with the American Surety Building. In 1892, owing to the oversupply of office space, Chicago limited the construction of high-rises to under 150 feet (46 meters). By the 1890s, a distinct architectural style emerged from Chicago, named the Chicago school. This style involved placing rich, ornate designs on the outside of skyscrapers at the ground level and simpler, plainer ornamentation on the upper levels, with strong vertical lines.
Chicago's construction boom continued into the early 20th century, up until the mid-1910s when World War I began. The city's elevated train network opened by 1910, making it easier for more workers to come downtown. By the end of the 1910s, Chicago had the second largest number of headquarters in the United States. Local architectural firms such as Daniel H. Burnham and then Graham, Anderson, Probst & White continued to design skyscrapers in the Chicago style popularized in the previous decade. The Masonic Temple Building was overtake in height by the Montgomery Ward Building in 1899. The building served as the headquarters for Montgomery Ward, the United States' oldest mail order firm.
Following a pause in development during World War I, a larger construction boom took place in the 1920s until the early 1930s. Limited wartime construction created supply shortages in the city, and rent levels rose in response by around 100 percent between 1919 and 1924. This level of potential profits encouraged an explosion of new building projects in the city. The 1892 height limit was relaxed in 1920 to 260 feet (79 m), and in 1923, Chicago passed its first comprehensive zoning ordinance, permitting taller towers, but with more controls on overall volumes.
One of the first new skyscrapers of this boom was the Wrigley Building, which was Chicago's tallest building from 1922 to 1924. It was the first major office building north of the Chicago River. In 1924, the Wrigley Building was surpassed in height by the first skyscraper in Chicago to exceed , the Chicago Temple Building. Besides as an office, the Chicago Temple Building was also used as the congregation of the First United Methodist Church of Chicago. The Morrison Hotel became the tallest hotel building in the world when it was built in 1925. The tower is an expansion to the existing Morrison's hotel, and it was the first building outside of New York City to have over 40 stories. Significant additions include the Pittsfield Building (1927), the Carbide & Carbon Building (1928), and the Palmolive Building (1929), all incorporating architectural features of the Art Deco style. Another mixed-use building was the Civic Opera Building, which in addition to office space, housed a 3,563-seat opera house, which serves as the permanent home of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
While shorter than the aforementioned buildings, the Tribune Tower is one of this period's most famous skyscrapers. The tower emerged from a design competition held by the Tribune Company in 1922 to celebrate its 75th anniversary. The Tribune newspaper, one of the largest in the world at the time, used the competition to build a loyal following amongst its readership and generate free publicity. The final design was decided by competition panel mainly made up of the company's appointees, who chose John Howells and Raymond Hood's design. The resulting tower was a conservative Gothic design; controversy about the decision broke out almost immediately. Architect Louis Sullivan criticized the chosen design as being derivative of the Woolworth Tower. Regardless of its critics, the Tribune received as many as 20,000 visitors to its observation gallery when it opened in 1925. The unbuilt second-place entry in the competition, a more simplified stepped-back design by Eliel Saarinen, also proved highly influential.
In 1930, the Chicago Board of Trade Building was completed, replacing an earlier high-rise designed by William W. Boyington as the site for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). The skyscraper is known for its Art Deco architecture, sculptures, large-scale stone carving, and its large trading floors. The CBOT has operated in the building continuously since. In the same year, a notable high-rise, was opened; with 4 million square feet (372,000 m<sup>2</sup>) of floor space, the 25-story Merchandise Mart, wider than it was tall, was the largest building in the world by volume. Due to the Great Depression, the skyscraper boom came to an end in the early 1930s. The Home Insurance Building was demolished in 1931 to make way for the Field Building, which was completed in 1934; the Field Building is the last major building to be added before a hiatus in skyscraper construction over the next twenty years.
After the completion of the Field Building, very few high-rises were built in Chicago until the mid-1950s, leaving its skyline mostly unchanged for two decades. The tallest building completed in the 1940s were the Promontory Apartments, the first skyscraper designed by famous German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It was a cooperative housing tower in Hyde Park with an exposed skeleton. The building and its display at the Museum of Modern Art led Mies to be commissioned for the Seagram Building in New York City.
In 1942, work finished at CabriniâÂÂGreen homes, a public housing project on the city's Near North Side. The project one of the first large-scale public housing projects in the United States, consisting of high-rise and mid-rise tower blocks. Extensions to the estate occurred in 1957 and 1962. Over the following decades, the development became associated with high-crime rates and building deterioration; "CabriniâÂÂGreen" became a metonym for problems associated with public housing in the United States.
The lull in skyscraper development was broken by the Prudential Building in 1955, which at a height of 601 feet (183 m) became the city's second tallest building. It was followed by the Inland Steel Building in 1958. The Inland Steel Building is seen as defining high-rises for the post-war era of modern architecture.
Skyscraper development would return fully in the 1960s, as Chicago entered a third, larger building boom that shaped its current skyline. The city more readily embraced residential skyscrapers compared to other American cities, and apartment towers spread north and south from the Loop along Lake Michigan. At the same time, Chicago was also experiencing white flight, which was leading to a decline of the city's population. To combat this, the Service Employees International Union, a union of building janitors and elevator operators, financed the construction of the 588 feet (179 m) Marina City complex, which was completed in 1964. The twin cylindrical skyscrapers of Marina City sit on the Chicago River, and are known for their unique design that resembles corncobs. The complex's apartments contain almost no interior right angles, with a circular hallway surrounding the elevator core. An even taller residential building, Lake Point Tower, was built in 1968 at 645 feet (197 m) tall. Located adjacent to Navy Pier, it is the easternmost skyscraper in the downtown skyline, and was the tallest apartment building in the world at the time. The tower has a triangular core and three arms that form a 'Y'-shape. Two residential towers that surpassed 500 feet (152 m) were built far outside The Loop in the 1970s: Park Place Tower and Park Tower Condominiums.
The Chicago Board of Trade Building would finally be overtaken in height by the modernist Chicago Civic Center in 1965, later renamed the Richard J. Daley Center by then-Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. It is Chicago's main civic center; the 648 ft (198 m) tower houses offices and courtrooms for the Cook County Circuit Courts, Cook County State's Attorney and additional office space for the city government and Cook County. As building heights increased for Chicago's commercial developments, the title of the city's tallest building would be broken four more times from 1969 to 1974. The Morrison Hotel was demolished in 1965, making it the tallest building ever demolished at the time. In its place, One First National Plaza (now Chase Tower) was built in 1969, very briefly becoming Chicago's tallest building. Chase Tower is known for its distinctive curving shape and its vibrant public space, with a ceramic wall mural by Marc Chagall.
Of Chicago's five tallest buildings, three were completed within a 5-year span between 1969 and 1974. 875 North Michigan Avenue, completed in 1969 as the John Hancock Center, was the first supertall skyscraper in Chicago, supplanting Chase Tower as the city's tallest building. The building has a structural expressionist style, with a distinctive X-braced exterior. this tubular system was an innovation that allowed the John Hancock Center to achieve its record height of 1,127 feet (344 m). The taller of the building's two large antennas extends its height to 1,500 feet (457 m). The tube system in the John Hancock Center, and later in Sears Tower, was implemented by Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan. The Standard Oil Building, later renamed the Aon Center, was completed in 1973 as the headquarters for the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, which became Amoco. It was very slightly taller than the John Hancock Center, at 1,136 feet (346 m); its pinstripes and white marble-clad exterior on a rectangular profile was a prominent feature on the skyline, although the marble was replaced by granite in the early 1990s.
Sears, a department store chain headquartered in Chicago, had grown to become the largest retailer in the world by the 1960s. Requiring more office space, the company decided against relocating to the suburbs, opting instead to build a new skyscraper on the western end of the Loop. The new skyscraper was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, with its planned height growing with Sears' growth projections. Plans for what would become the Sears Tower were announced in 1970, and construction began in the same year. During construction, Sears Tower met lawsuits as Chicagoland residents and broadcasters raised concerns that the skyscraper could disrupt television broadcasts. This led Sears to approve of installing an antenna atop the tower. The black glass-clad skyscraper uses a bundled tube structure, with nine square tubes that are set back at different heights. The Sears Tower was completed in 1974, not only becoming the tallest building in Chicago, but the tallest building in the United States, and the world, overtaking New York City's World Trade Center complex.
A minor slowdown in skyscraper construction in Chicago occurred in the mid-1970s, affected by the 1973âÂÂ1975 recession. The 1980s was a very productive decade for skyscrapers in Chicago. Postmodern architectural trends influenced the design of several new skyscrapers during this period, including two additional supertall skyscrapers completed near the end of the decade: the Franklin Center, and Two Prudential Plaza. Located directly northeast of the Sears Tower and completed in 1989, the Franklin Center was built as the AT&T Corporate Center, following the split of the AT&T monopoly. The building is clad in granite, which changes shade from a deep-red color, to rose-beige at the top. The building's setbacks and the Gothic detailing evokes images of skyscrapers built in the 1920s. Two Prudential Plaza opened in 1990 to adjoin the Prudential BuildingâÂÂnow renamed One Prudential PlazaâÂÂwhich had been built 38 years earlier. At the time of completion, Two Prudential was the world's tallest reinforced concrete building. Its distinctive shape features stacked chevron setbacks on the north and south sides and a pyramidal peak rotated 45 degrees.
Other postmodernist skyscrapers include One South Wacker (1982) and 900 North Michigan, a mixed-use tower containing a large, upscale shopping mall on the Magnificent Mile, built in 1989. The exterior of the tower is clad in limestone, although the building's most distinctive feature on the skyline are its four "lanterns" on the corners on top of the building. Adjacent to the Sears Tower to the south, 311 South Wacker Drive was completed in 1990. The skyscraper's crown consists of a translucent cylinder surrounded by four smaller cylinders, which was inspired by the massing of the Tribune Tower. Modernist developments continued with Huron Plaza (1983), a residential tower that was the first in the Near North Side's Cathedral District, and the mixed-use Olympia Centre (1986), its pink cladding provided by Swedish granite. The Onterie Center (Axis Apartments) has large 'X' formations; the building is considered the "final work" by Fazlur Rahman Khan, who died four years earlier in 1982 before the building's completion. In contrast, the NBC Tower, built in 1989, is in the Art Deco style, and bears a resemblance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, NBC's global headquarters.
After 1992, there was a halt in skyscraper completions for nearly a decade due to the early 1990s recession. Thus, the rest of the 1990s saw little change in the city's skyline, until One Superior Place was completed in 1999. In 1998, Sears Tower was surpassed as the world's tallest building by the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The decision by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat that the Petronas Towers were taller than the Sears Tower was contentious, not least within Chicago itself. The Sears Tower was taller when measured by pinnacle height, due to its antennas, bringing the building to , over 200 feet taller than the Petronas Towers' pinnacle height of 1,483 feet (451.9 m). In the ensuing controversy, four categories of "tallest building" were created.
The 2000s was a period of strong growth for Chicago's skyline. 31 skyscrapers taller than 492 feet (150 m) were completed between 2000 and 2009, the most of any decade in the city's history. According to Crain's, the cumulative height of all tall buildings built during the decade added up to over 34,000 feet (10 km), driven by a buoyant real estate market. Residential skyscrapers, though already present in significant numbers on the skyline, made up an increasing share of new completions, as downtown living became more desirable. Despite the city's population decline during the decade, population growth was healthy in the Loop, continuing a trend that began in the 1990s. Notable residential buildings include Park Tower (2000), one of the world's tallest buildings to be clad with architectural precast concrete; One North Wacker (2001); Millennium Centre (2003) and 340 on the Park (2007).
In 2001, then real estate developer and later U.S. president Donald Trump announced plans for a skyscraper on the site of a seven-story building formerly occupied by the Chicago Sun-Times. The initial height of the proposal was 1,500 feet (457.2 m), which would have made it the world's tallest building. Following the September 11 attacks, Trump reduced the planned height of the building, to reduce the risk of similar attacks, although up until 2005, Trump had still aspired for a building taller than the Sears Tower, though this was rejected by Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley. Construction on the Trump International Hotel and Tower began in 2005 and was completed in 2009, becoming the second-tallest building in Chicago and the building with the highest residence in the world, overtaking Chicago's own John Hancock Center. The skyscraper's design features three setbacks designed to provide visual continuity with the surrounding skyline.
The Great Recession caused another slowdown in skyscraper construction after 2010, which lasted until the middle of the decade. This affected some developments such as the Waterview Tower, where work on a planned supertall skyscraper had begun in 2005. The project was abandoned in 2008, and resumed in 2011 after another developer bought the site. Since known as OneEleven, the building was finally completed in 2015 at a reduced height. Perhaps the most significant casualty of the recession was the Chicago Spire. Proposed in 2005, the megatall skyscraper, designed by Spanish architect-engineer Santiago Calatrava, would have been 2,000 feet (610 m) high with 150 floors. Construction began in 2007, but was stopped a year later, as the subprime mortgage crisis set in. This left an infamous "hole" where the building's foundation had been completed.
Sears sold the Sears Tower in 1994 as part of a restructuring effort, but the building continued to be known officially under that name until 2009, when London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained naming rights for the building. On July, the building was renamed the Willis Tower. This change was met with considerable opposition, including from many Chicagoans, who continue to refer to the building as the Sears Tower today. Willis Tower was dethroned in 2013 as the tallest building in the United States by New York City's One World Trade Center.
The second-tallest skyscraper built during the 2000s, Aqua, was completed in 2009. Designed by a team led by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects, the residential skyscraper is distinctive for its irregularly shaped concrete floor slabs, inspired by the striated limestone outcroppings that can are commonly found in the Great Lakes, which lend the facade an undulating, sculptural quality. Aqua was awarded the Emporis Skyscraper Award as 2009 skyscraper of the year, and was shortlisted in 2010 for the biennial International High-Rise Award.
Aqua was the world's tallest building designed by a woman until the construction of the St. Regis Chicago, which Gang also designed. At 1,198 feet (365 m), the St. Regis Chicago is the city's third tallest building, and its newest supertall skyscraper. Similarly to Aqua, it features a curvilinear design as a defining feature of the building, consisting of three interconnected masses covered by six different shades of glass. The building was completed in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic, delaying the opening of the hotel portion of the building until 2023.
South Loop has emerged as a new area for skyscrapers in the 21st century, particularly with the completion of the 726 feet (221 m) One Museum Park in 2009, making it the tallest building on the South Side. As development resumed in the 2010s, One Museum Park would be surrounded by Essex on the Park and the even taller NEMA Chicago. Built in 2019, NEMA Chicago's stacked square pays homage to the Willis Tower, and uses a similar "bundled tube" configuration. In 2024, 1000M was completed in the area, becoming the second tallest building on the South Side. The skyscraper features a "deliberate change in form" between the lower 19 floors, which complements the surrounding Historic Michigan Boulevard District, and the tower portion above.
From the 2010s onward, the skyline has gradually expanded westwards into the Near West Side, mainly the West Loop area, which includes the Fulton Market District. 727 West Madison was completed there in 2018, the first building above 492 feet (150 m) in the area. This was followed by The Row (900 West Randolph) even further west in 2023. More skyscrapers and high-rises are planned for the area, the tallest of which is 725 W Randolph Street, which aims to be 665 feet (203 m) tall.
A number of large-scale redevelopments, or "mega-developments", have been proposed in Chicago in the early 21st century, each containing a number of high-rises, though none have yet been fully realized. The 78 is a plot of land from Roosevelt Road south to 16th Street and Clark Street, along the Chicago River. Its name is a reference to the Chicago's 77 existing community areas. The site has been unoccupied since a railyard was demolished in the 1970s. Many plans have been proposed or discussed for this site; a recent iteration of the plans will involve the construction of a new baseball stadium for the Chicago White Sox; another includes a proposal for a new soccer stadium for Chicago Fire FC.
Another mega-development, Lincoln Yards, would be located northwest of downtown, occupying more than of land on both sides of the North Branch of the Chicago River. Plans included several towers and high-rises for apartments, condos, office, retail, and entertainment. Owing to financial issues, the proposal was shelved in 2025. A portion of the land was transferred to JDL Development and Kayne Anderson Real Estate in 2025. The new developers have proposed a more modest project named Foundry Yards, containing fewer high-rises.
Bronzeville Lakefront is a development in Bronzeville that will include over 5,000 new residential units in several mid-rises and high-rises, 20% of which would be affordable units, alongside the rehabilitation of the Singer Pavilion, a new senior housing building, and a 40,000 square foot community center. Construction of the project began in 2023 and is scheduled to be complete in 2035.
The 1901 Project, in the Near West Side, will revitalize over 55 acres (22 ha) of parking lots around the United Center. The multi-phase project is being led by the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, owner of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks respectively. The masterplan is expected to be completed in 2040, delivering 9,463 residential units, 1,309 hotel rooms, 660,000 square feet of office space, 670,000 square feet of retail space.
Chicago's tallest proposed building is the Tribune East Tower, to be built on the eastern side of the famed Tribune Tower; at 1,442 ft (440 m), it would overtake Trump International Hotel and Tower as the city's second-tallest building. Plans were approved in 2020, although no construction has begun. By the mid-2020s, Chicago had seen a considerable decrease in the rate of new skyscrapers being built. High construction costs and interest rates have sharply reduced the number of new condominium projects downtown. By 2025, the only project taller than 400 feet (122 m) under construction is 400 Lake Shore, on the site of the failed Chicago Spire. The project's North Tower will reach a height of 875 ft (267 m). 400 Lake Shore will feature a staggering silhouette formed by outdoor terraces on its glass and stone exterior.
<imagemap> Image:2010-02-19_16500x2000_chicago_skyline_panorama.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|The 2010 Chicago skyline as seen from the Adler Planetarium <small>(Use cursor to identify buildings)</small> poly 1044 1289 2225 1284 2221 1519 1035 1515 Field Museum of Natural History poly 2317 1409 2328 888 2407 892 2440 194 2678 210 2681 1343 2397 1352 2392 1409 One Museum Park poly 2251 1597 2246 1413 2393 1410 2394 1383 2508 1377 2508 1350 2971 1334 2962 1240 3121 1159 3137 1091 3158 1161 3306 1224 3308 1338 4143 1365 4146 1600 Shedd Aquarium poly 2831 1342 2830 896 2901 839 2956 887 2975 1034 2965 1336 The Columbian poly 5094 1587 5097 1229 5212 1218 5216 1184 5313 1185 5311 1115 5477 1119 5476 1188 5624 1192 5623 1225 5729 1224 5731 1593 Hilton Chicago poly 5728 1571 5729 1242 5769 1238 5769 1229 5811 1225 5845 1225 5845 1233 5887 1235 5887 1241 5897 1247 5903 1257 5909 1268 5914 1289 5911 1581 Renaissance Blackstone Hotel poly 5738 1236 5734 1115 5820 1099 5924 1107 5928 1329 5919 1328 5915 1277 5907 1255 5886 1230 5843 1223 5754 1228 5752 1239 One Financial Place poly 5841 1098 5844 1038 5858 1037 5858 839 5868 819 5889 818 5894 794 5958 794 5958 819 5984 822 5998 864 5996 1040 6044 1041 6044 1236 5984 1235 5980 1284 5964 1285 5962 1331 5928 1332 5924 1103 311 South Wacker Drive poly 6111 1587 6111 1431 6056 1431 6056 1401 6011 1403 6011 1378 6073 1375 6097 1376 6099 1393 6209 1400 6212 1601 Spertus Institute poly 6094 1348 6093 1236 6139 1235 6140 1218 6157 1218 6156 1333 6141 1333 6141 1343 200 South Wacker Drive poly 6157 1336 6153 902 6183 898 6184 637 6209 633 6203 205 6333 207 6333 627 6390 635 6389 896 6426 896 6419 1135 6401 1125 6367 1086 6361 1040 6332 1039 6330 1089 6291 1131 6277 1224 6274 1318 Willis Tower poly 6285 1325 6287 1225 6293 1131 6335 1087 6340 1038 6355 1045 6358 1087 6401 1121 6414 1222 6422 1362 6312 1358 6310 1337 Chicago Board of Trade poly 6387 1373 6641 1379 6645 1420 6828 1421 6828 1576 6385 1580 6390 1380 Congress Plaza Hotel poly 6521 1248 6516 1073 6603 1062 6705 1070 6705 1205 6679 1176 6575 1179 6545 1223 6548 1263 111 South Wacker Drive poly 6721 1263 6713 1217 6722 909 6745 885 6751 796 6859 790 6865 871 6903 911 6900 1055 6808 1075 6808 1284 Franklin Center North Tower poly 6810 1352 6808 1077 6870 1068 6872 1058 6928 1053 6969 1054 6972 1064 7036 1068 7033 1268 7023 1270 7021 1406 6938 1400 6936 1345 Kluczynski Federal Building poly 6841 1421 7097 1422 7088 1584 6834 1585 Auditorium Building poly 7036 1236 7037 1117 7130 1119 7128 1230 Field Building poly 7129 1265 7126 901 7226 885 7441 903 7445 1264 7368 1259 7367 1270 7264 1289 7256 1439 7244 1438 7237 1409 7190 1409 7192 1269 CNA Center poly 7447 1241 7443 1049 7603 1049 7599 1241 Citadel Center poly 7578 1536 7573 1259 7608 1256 7609 1165 7653 1108 7669 1065 7679 1066 7686 1103 7727 1164 7737 1197 7737 1266 7772 1269 7768 1601 Metropolitan Tower poly 7655 1069 7650 862 7892 837 7888 1291 7867 1308 7780 1300 7770 1270 7740 1263 7733 1186 7695 1114 7681 1070 7665 1069 Chase Tower poly 7895 1114 7890 939 7948 940 7989 1002 7964 1008 7963 1083 Three First National Plaza poly 7774 1545 7774 1329 7830 1314 7929 1312 7986 1337 7984 1543 Santa Fe Building poly 7896 1314 7897 1144 7908 1142 7908 1081 7967 1086 7967 1317 One South Dearborn poly 7968 1314 7964 1006 8082 986 8211 982 8211 1006 8337 1012 8344 1286 8037 1279 8034 1298 Mid-Continental Plaza poly 8173 1556 8320 1549 8320 1596 8172 1597 Buckingham Fountain poly 8348 1308 8347 1284 8339 1285 8337 1070 8387 1067 8388 1075 8400 1076 8402 1342 8384 1341 8383 1307 Richard J. Daley Center poly 8403 1339 8396 779 8572 755 8564 1420 8519 1380 8474 1378 8465 1337 Legacy Tower poly 8536 1582 8539 1409 8514 1384 8600 1383 8635 1442 8632 1579 University Club of Chicago poly 8568 1326 8566 1215 8609 1214 8611 1296 8617 1300 8623 1329 8607 1330 8606 1320 8593 1320 8594 1338 8573 1340 8574 1328 LaSalle-Wacker Building poly 8653 1327 8650 1057 8824 1048 8825 1086 8750 1085 8712 1111 8715 1330 300 North LaSalle poly 8720 1335 8717 1110 8757 1083 8848 1084 8881 1108 8880 1127 8862 1144 8863 1163 8854 1168 8853 1265 8840 1263 8837 1195 8830 1159 8771 1159 8772 1194 8761 1195 8762 1297 8751 1298 8751 1336 United Building poly 8857 1323 8855 1167 8863 1167 8865 1139 8876 1132 8903 1095 8934 1137 8938 1136 8942 1166 8950 1166 8951 1327 Pittsfield Building poly 8953 1258 8950 1163 8937 1132 8921 1118 8918 1082 9012 1076 9087 1084 9086 1322 9063 1321 9060 1270 9039 1270 9038 1251 Leo Burnett Building poly 9136 1505 9135 1342 9092 1336 9091 1054 9123 1054 9124 1024 9155 1016 9242 1026 9246 1504 The Heritage at Millennium Park poly 9359 1545 9359 1190 9442 1071 9547 1193 9540 1542 Crain Communications Building poly 9263 1476 9261 1355 9243 1354 9241 1176 9304 1171 9360 1175 9350 1475 Kemper Building poly 9574 1512 9568 1066 9705 1063 9702 1248 9595 1249 9597 1520 Michigan Plaza South poly 9699 1531 9699 1058 9883 1058 9878 1092 9935 1099 9936 1454 10050 1457 10053 1542 9963 1514 9964 1498 9858 1497 9826 1476 9725 1489 9723 1511 One Prudential Plaza poly 9724 1533 9730 1492 9786 1501 9825 1482 9889 1506 9960 1500 9963 1540 9730 1535 Jay Pritzker Pavilion poly 9817 1051 9812 704 9869 703 9868 531 9948 532 9955 1077 9894 1074 9891 1048 Trump Tower Chicago poly 9939 1449 9950 910 9975 839 10033 672 10130 912 10126 1526 10060 1538 10054 1452 Two Prudential Plaza poly 10158 1585 10154 433 10400 435 10401 1594 Aon Center poly 10411 1572 10408 816 10706 816 10706 848 10731 853 10726 1589 Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower poly 10710 854 10709 803 10897 795 10896 873 10751 878 10747 859 Aqua poly 10725 1592 10731 883 10939 869 10939 1583 340 on the Park poly 10983 1577 10980 1153 11104 1154 11115 1165 11146 1171 11141 1578 The Buckingham poly 11112 1166 11113 1126 11136 1090 11154 1089 11180 1134 11179 1311 11147 1311 11147 1168 Park Tower poly 11214 1594 11210 1173 11249 1172 11249 1152 11257 1153 11257 1140 11322 1139 11334 1141 11334 1153 11348 1156 11348 1168 11381 1173 11387 1220 11261 1218 11257 1598 The Tides poly 11351 1167 11352 1146 11443 1144 11443 1151 11459 1154 11459 1181 11407 1182 11406 1220 11390 1220 11389 1173 11359 1168 Olympia Centre poly 11249 1585 11254 1229 11403 1216 11403 1181 11490 1182 11487 1220 11630 1227 11632 1581 Outer Drive East poly 11629 1546 11629 1230 11580 1228 11579 1212 11614 1212 11613 1194 11636 1194 11636 1179 11661 1177 11690 1181 11690 1191 11713 1195 11713 1209 11746 1213 11745 1575 11662 1573 11662 1546 The Shoreham poly 11552 1218 11588 692 11673 693 11702 1087 11587 1089 11587 1219 875 North Michigan Avenue poly 11589 1208 11587 1091 11743 1092 11741 1210 11721 1205 11718 1193 11696 1191 11695 1179 11636 1177 11631 1192 11614 1192 11612 1210 Water Tower Place poly 11756 1565 11755 1017 11873 1015 11870 1570 North Harbor Tower poly 11871 1583 11873 1038 11896 1036 11896 1014 11936 1007 12007 1015 12007 1042 12061 1044 12075 1591 Harbor Point poly 12064 1569 12063 1043 12022 1043 12021 1017 12111 1015 12112 1034 12161 1035 12160 1571 The Parkshore poly 12160 1336 12160 1249 12183 1252 12182 1336 400 East Ohio Street poly 12209 1342 12205 1292 12229 1290 12231 1253 12248 1255 12250 1227 12284 1225 12287 1256 12309 1256 12309 1291 12332 1292 12331 1331 12275 1331 12274 1339 401 East Ontario poly 12353 1330 12344 1189 12463 1192 12461 1499 12446 1496 12446 1338 Onterie Center poly 12440 1592 12441 1500 12518 1503 12518 1122 12626 1123 12628 1584 North Pier Apartments poly 13032 1595 13034 1080 13228 1083 13229 1600 Lake Point Tower poly 13713 1651 13715 1481 16291 1501 16286 1664 Navy Pier desc none </imagemap>
This map shows the location of skyscrapers taller than 492 feet (150 m) in Chicago. With the exception of two residential towers, Park Place Tower and Park Tower Condominiums, all of them are located in Downtown Chicago. Each marker is colored by the decade of the skyscraper's completion.
This list ranks completed Chicago skyscrapers that stand at least tall, based on standard height measurement. This height includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. The "Year" column indicates the year of completion. Buildings tied in height are sorted by year of completion with earlier buildings ranked first, and then alphabetically. , Chicago is home to 137 skyscrapers at or above in height.
This list ranks Chicago skyscrapers based on their pinnacle height, which includes radio masts and antennas. Standard architectural height measurement, which excludes antennas in building height, is included for comparative purposes. The "Year" column indicates the year in which a building was completed.
There is one building under construction in Chicago that is planned to rise at least .
Only one building in Chicago was demolished that stood at least 492 feet (150 m) in height.
This lists buildings designed to rise at least that were approved for construction in Chicago but were cancelled prior to completion. This list does not include vision projects such as Gateway Tower or the Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle that were never intended to be built, nor does it include projects that were not approved by the Chicago Plan Commission such as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and Residence Tower.