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, 57 of which stand taller than 600 feet (183 m). As 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 1,451 feet (442 m) 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.
| Skyline of Chicago | |
|---|---|
Chicago skyline in 2024 on the shores of Lake Michigan | |
| Tallest building | Willis Tower (1974) |
| Tallest building height | 1,451 ft (442 m) |
| First 150 m+ building | Chicago Temple Building (1924) |
| Number of tall buildings (2025) | |
| Taller than 100 m (328 ft) | 356 |
| Taller than 150 m (492 ft) | 137 |
| Taller than 200 m (656 ft) | 38 |
| Taller than 300 m (984 ft) | 7 |
| Taller than 400 m (1,312 ft) | 2 |
| Number of tall buildings — feet | |
| Taller than 300 ft (91.4 m) | 409 |
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 180 feet (55 m), 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.
History
Number of buildings by height in Chicago by the end of each year, including any demolished buildings. Click on the legend to toggle a specific height on or off. View chart definition.
First skyscrapers
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 the most 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, 556 feet (169 m) 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.
1900s–1930s
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, briefly Chicago's tallest building from 1922 to 1924. It was the first major office building north of the Chicago River. The Wrigley Building was surpassed by the Chicago Temple Building in 1924. Besides as an office, the 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 m2) 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.
1940s–1950s
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 Cabrini–Green 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; "Cabrini–Green" 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.
1960s–1970s
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.
1980s–1990s
A minor slowdown in skyscraper construction in Chicago occurred in the mid-1970s, affected by the 1973–1975 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 Building–now renamed One Prudential Plaza–which 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 1,729 feet (527.0 m), 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.
Since the 2000s
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.
Studio Gang
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 and West Loop
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.
Mega-developments
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 50 acres (20 ha) 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 31-acre (13 ha) 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 48-acre (19 ha) 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.
Future
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.
Cityscape
Map of tallest buildings
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.
420m
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Buildings taller than 492 ft (150 m) in Chicago. An asterisk (*) next to the building's name indicates it is located outside the map.
- 1950s and before
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2010s
- 2020s
1
Willis Tower2
Trump International Hotel and Tower3
St. Regis Chicago4
Aon Center5
875 North Michigan Avenue6
Franklin Center7
Two Prudential Plaza8
One Chicago East Tower9
311 South Wacker Drive10
NEMA Chicago11
900 North Michigan12
Aqua13
Water Tower Place14
Chase Tower15
Park Tower16
One Bennett Park17
Salesforce Tower Chicago18
The Legacy at Millennium Park19
110 North Wacker20
1000M21
300 North LaSalle22
Three First National Plaza23
Grant Thornton Tower24
Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower25
River Point26
Olympia Centre27
BMO Tower28
One Museum Park29
150 North Riverside30
330 North Wabash31
Waldorf Astoria Chicago32
111 South Wacker Drive33
181 West Madison Street34
71 South Wacker35
One Magnificent Mile36
340 on the Park37
77 West Wacker Drive38
Wolf Point East Tower39
One North Wacker40
Richard J. Daley Center41
55 East Erie Street42
Lake Point Tower43
River East Center44
Grand Plaza I45
155 North Wacker46
Leo Burnett Building47
The Heritage at Millennium Park48
OneEleven49
NBC Tower50
353 North Clark51
Essex on the Park52
Millennium Centre53
Chicago Place54
Chicago Board of Trade Building55
One Prudential Plaza56
333 South Wabash57
Heller International Building58
200 West Madison59
The Grant60
1000 Lake Shore Plaza61
The Clare62
Accenture Tower63
Marina City I64
Marina City II65
Optima Signature66
Mid-Continental Plaza67
Crain Communications Building68
North Pier Apartments69
Citadel Center70
The Fordham71
One Chicago West Tower72
190 South LaSalle Street73
One South Dearborn74
Axis Apartments75
Loews Hotel Tower76
Chicago Temple Building77
Palmolive Building78
Kluczynski Federal Building79
Cirrus80
Huron Plaza81
Boeing International Headquarters82
Pittsfield Building83
The Parkshore84
North Harbor Tower85
Civic Opera House86
Harbor Point87
Atwater Apartments88
30 North LaSalle89
Michigan Plaza South90
Newberry Plaza91
One South Wacker92
Park Millennium93
AMLI River North94
The Franklin – South Tower95
Field Building96
The Pinnacle97
Park Place Tower*98
One North LaSalle99
Elysées Condominiums100
465 North Park101
River Plaza102
35 East Wacker103
Arrive Michigan Avenue104
Kemper Building105
Mather Tower106
30 South Wacker107
10 South Wacker108
The Columbian109
151 North Franklin110
191 North Wacker111
425 South Financial Place112
401 East Ontario113
Millie on Michigan114
The Streeter115
Park Tower Condominiums*116
600 North Lake Shore Drive (S)117
LaSalle-Wacker Building119
321 North Clark120
215 West121
Carbide & Carbon Building122
400 East Ohio Street123
One Superior Place124
10 South LaSalle125
120 North LaSalle126
200 South Wacker Drive127
The Tides at Lakeshore East128
Parkview West129
500 North Lake Shore Drive130
727 West Madison131
55 West Monroe132
Ontario Place133
The Row134
50 East Chestnut Street135
The Ritz-Carlton Residences136
PNC Center137
No. 9 WaltonTallest buildings
This list ranks completed Chicago skyscrapers that stand at least 492 feet (150 m) 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.
Was the tallest building in Chicago upon completion
| Rank | Name | Image | Coordinates | Height ft (m) | Floors | Year | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willis Tower | 41°52′44″N 87°38′9″W / 41.87889°N 87.63583°W | 1,451 (442) | 108 | 1974 | Office | Formerly known as Sears Tower, a name it is still commonly called today; 3rd-tallest building in the United States, 26th-tallest building in the world; tallest building in the world from 1974 until 1998. Also the tallest building in the Midwest. Tallest building completed in Chicago in the 1970s. | |
| 2 | Trump International Hotel and Tower | 41°53′20″N 87°37′35″W / 41.88889°N 87.62639°W | 1,388 (423) | 98 | 2009 | Mixed-use | 7th-tallest building in the United States; tallest building completed in Chicago in the 2000s. A mixed-use residential and hotel skyscraper. | |
| 3 | St. Regis Chicago | 41°53′14″N 87°37′02″W / 41.88722°N 87.61722°W | 1,198 (363) | 101 | 2020 | Mixed-use | Formerly known as the Wanda Vista Tower; 11th-tallest building in the United States, and the tallest skyscraper in the world designed by a woman. It is the newest supertall skyscraper in Chicago. Tallest building completed in Chicago in the 2020s. A mixed-use residential and hotel skyscraper. | |
| 4 | Aon Center | 41°53′7″N 87°37′17″W / 41.88528°N 87.62139°W | 1,136 (346) | 83 | 1973 | Office | 12th-tallest building in the U.S.; formerly known as the Standard Oil Building. Was the tallest building in Chicago before being surpassed by the Willis Tower. | |
| 5 | 875 North Michigan Avenue | 41°53′55.5″N 87°37′23″W / 41.898750°N 87.62306°W | 1,127 (344) | 100 | 1969 | Mixed-use | Previously known as John Hancock Center; 13th-tallest building in the United States; tallest building completed in the world in the 1960s; first building in the world outside of New York City to rise at least 1,000 feet (305 m). A mixed-use residential and office skyscraper. Was the tallest building in Chicago before being surpassed by the Aon Center. | |
| 6 | Franklin Center | 41°52′49.5″N 87°38′5″W / 41.880417°N 87.63472°W | 1,007 (307) | 61 | 1989 | Office | Formerly known as the AT&T Corporate Center; 27th-tallest building in the United States; tallest building completed in Chicago in the 1980s. | |
| 7 | Two Prudential Plaza | 41°53′8″N 87°37′22″W / 41.88556°N 87.62278°W | 995 (303) | 64 | 1990 | Office | 30th-tallest building in the United States; tallest building completed in Chicago in the 1990s. | |
| 8 | One Chicago East Tower | 41°53′46″N 87°37′43″W / 41.8960713°N 87.628645°W | 973 (296) | 78 | 2022 | Residential | 37th-tallest building in the United States. Topped out in July 2021. | |
| 9 | 311 South Wacker Drive | 41°52′39″N 87°38′8″W / 41.87750°N 87.63556°W | 961 (293) | 65 | 1990 | Office | 37th-tallest building in the United States. | |
| 10 | NEMA Chicago | 41°52′1″N 87°37′23″W / 41.86694°N 87.62306°W | 896 (273) | 76 | 2019 | Residential | Tallest apartment building in Chicago. Tallest building completed in Chicago in the 2010s. | |
| 11 | 900 North Michigan | 41°53′59″N 87°37′30″W / 41.89972°N 87.62500°W | 871 (266) | 66 | 1989 | Mixed-use | A mixed-use skyscraper with office, residential, and hotel components. | |
| 12 | Aqua | 41°53′11″N 87°37′12″W / 41.88639°N 87.62000°W | 860 (262) | 82 | 2009 | Mixed-use | Currently the second-tallest building in the world designed by a female-led architectural firm; first skyscraper in Chicago to contain a hotel, condominiums, apartments and retail space. | |
| 13 | Water Tower Place | 41°53′52.5″N 87°37′20.5″W / 41.897917°N 87.622361°W | 860 (262) | 74 | 1976 | Mixed-use | Currently a mixed-use skyscraper with residential and retail components and a Ritz-Carlton hotel. | |
| 14 | Chase Tower | 41°52′53.5″N 87°37′48″W / 41.881528°N 87.63000°W | 850 (259) | 60 | 1969 | Office | Also known as First National Plaza. Replaced the Morrison Hotel, the tallest building to ever have been demolished in Chicago. Was the tallest building in Chicago before being surpassed by the John Hancock Center. | |
| 15 | Park Tower | 41°53′49.5″N 87°37′30.5″W / 41.897083°N 87.625139°W | 844 (257) | 67 | 2000 | Mixed-use | A mixed-use residential and hotel skyscraper. | |
| 16 | One Bennett Park | 41°53′30″N 87°36′56.4″W / 41.89167°N 87.615667°W | 837 (255) | 69 | 2018 | Residential | ||
| 17 | Salesforce Tower Chicago | 41°53′15.4″N 87°38′15.7″W / 41.887611°N 87.637694°W | 835 (255) | 60 | 2023 | Office | Formerly known as Wolf Point South Tower. | |
| 18 | The Legacy at Millennium Park | 41°52′53″N 87°37′32″W / 41.88139°N 87.62556°W | 822 (251) | 73 | 2010 | Residential | ||
| 19 | 110 North Wacker | 41°53′1″N 87°38′15″W / 41.88361°N 87.63750°W | 814 (248) | 51 | 2020 | Office | ||
| 20 | 1000M | 41°52′11.7″N 87°37′28.5″W / 41.869917°N 87.624583°W | 805 (245) | 73 | 2024 | Residential | Construction was temporarily halted in June 2020 due to funding issues and COVID-19 concerns; a revised design received city approval in June 2021 and construction resumed in December 2021. Topped out in July 2023. | |
| 21 | 300 North LaSalle | 41°53′17.5″N 87°37′59″W / 41.888194°N 87.63306°W | 784 (239) | 60 | 2008 | Office | ||
| 22 | Three First National Plaza | 41°52′56″N 87°37′50″W / 41.88222°N 87.63056°W | 767 (234) | 57 | 1981 | Office | Also known by its address, 70 West Madison. | |
| 23 | Grant Thornton Tower | 41°53′5″N 87°37′50″W / 41.88472°N 87.63056°W | 755 (230) | 50 | 1992 | Office | Also known by its address, 161 North Clark. | |
| 24 | Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower | 41°53′5″N 87°37′12″W / 41.88472°N 87.62000°W | 744 (227) | 54 | 2010 | Office | The building was originally built in 1997 at 33 stories and a height of 411 feet (125.3 m). In 2010, 21 floors were added in a vertical expansion, along with 3 below-ground floors. | |
| 25 | River Point | 41°53′9.3″N 87°38′21.8″W / 41.885917°N 87.639389°W | 732 (223) | 52 | 2017 | Office | ||
| 26 | Olympia Centre | 41°53′47″N 87°37′24″W / 41.89639°N 87.62333°W | 731 (223) | 63 | 1986 | Mixed-use | Mixed-use office and residential skyscraper. | |
| 27 | BMO Tower | 41°52′38″N 87°38′24″W / 41.87722°N 87.64000°W | 729 (222) | 51 | 2021 | Office | ||
| 28 | One Museum Park | 41°52′1.5″N 87°37′17″W / 41.867083°N 87.62139°W | 726 (221) | 62 | 2009 | Residential | ||
| 29 | 150 North Riverside | 41°53′07″N 87°38′18.5″W / 41.88528°N 87.638472°W | 724 (221) | 54 | 2017 | Office | Tallest building in the city west of the Chicago River. | |
| 30 | 330 North Wabash | 41°53′19″N 87°37′39″W / 41.88861°N 87.62750°W | 695 (212) | 52 | 1972 | Mixed-use | Also known as the IBM Building, and formerly as AMA Plaza. Originally an office building. Currently a mixed-use office and hotel skyscraper. | |
| 31 | Waldorf Astoria Chicago | 41°53′59″N 87°37′39″W / 41.89972°N 87.62750°W | 686 (209) | 60 | 2009 | Mixed-use | Mixed-use residential and hotel building. | |
| 32 | 111 South Wacker Drive | 41°52′49″N 87°38′10.5″W / 41.88028°N 87.636250°W | 681 (208) | 51 | 2005 | Office | ||
| 33 | 181 West Madison Street | 41°52′53.5″N 87°38′00″W / 41.881528°N 87.63333°W | 680 (207) | 50 | 1990 | Office | ||
| 34 | 71 South Wacker | 41°52′51″N 87°38′10″W / 41.88083°N 87.63611°W | 679 (207) | 48 | 2005 | Office | ||
| 35 | One Magnificent Mile | 41°54′2″N 87°37′29″W / 41.90056°N 87.62472°W | 673 (205) | 57 | 1983 | Mixed-use | Mixed-use office and residential building. | |
| 36 | 340 on the Park | 41°53′5.5″N 87°37′8″W / 41.884861°N 87.61889°W | 672 (205) | 64 | 2007 | Residential | ||
| 37 | 77 West Wacker Drive | 41°53′11.5″N 87°37′50″W / 41.886528°N 87.63056°W | 668 (204) | 49 | 1992 | Office | Formerly known as the United Building and the R.R. Donnelley Building. | |
| 38 | Wolf Point East Tower | 41°53′16.1″N 87°38′12.4″W / 41.887806°N 87.636778°W | 668 (204) | 60 | 2020 | Residential | ||
| 39 | One North Wacker | 41°52′56″N 87°38′10″W / 41.88222°N 87.63611°W | 652 (199) | 50 | 2001 | Office | Also known as the UBS Tower. | |
| 40 | Richard J. Daley Center | 41°53′2.5″N 87°37′49″W / 41.884028°N 87.63028°W | 648 (198) | 32 | 1965 | Office | Tallest flat-roofed building in the world that contains fewer than 40 floors. Was the tallest building in Chicago before being surpassed by Chase Tower. | |
| 41 | 55 East Erie Street | 41°53′38″N 87°37′33″W / 41.89389°N 87.62583°W | 647 (197) | 56 | 2004 | Residential | ||
| 42 | Lake Point Tower | 41°53′30″N 87°36′44″W / 41.89167°N 87.61222°W | 645 (197) | 70 | 1968 | Residential | The only tower in the city that sits on the east side of Lake Shore Drive. | |
| 43 | River East Center | 41°53′29″N 87°37′5.5″W / 41.89139°N 87.618194°W | 644 (196) | 58 | 2001 | Residential | ||
| 44 | Grand Plaza I | 41°53′31″N 87°37′43″W / 41.89194°N 87.62861°W | 641 (195) | 57 | 2003 | Residential | ||
| 45 | 155 North Wacker | 41°53′5″N 87°38′11.5″W / 41.88472°N 87.636528°W | 638 (195) | 45 | 2009 | Office | ||
| 46 | Leo Burnett Building | 41°53′11″N 87°37′45″W / 41.88639°N 87.62917°W | 635 (194) | 50 | 1989 | Office | ||
| 47 | The Heritage at Millennium Park | 41°53′3″N 87°37′32″W / 41.88417°N 87.62556°W | 631 (192) | 57 | 2005 | Residential | ||
| 48 | OneEleven | 41°53′12″N 87°37′52″W / 41.88667°N 87.63111°W | 630 (192) | 59 | 2014 | Residential | Formally 111 W. Wacker and Waterview Tower. | |
| 49 | NBC Tower | 41°53′24″N 87°37′16″W / 41.89000°N 87.62111°W | 627 (191) | 37 | 1989 | Office | ||
| 50 | 353 North Clark | 41°53′20″N 87°37′48″W / 41.88889°N 87.63000°W | 624 (190) | 44 | 2009 | Office | ||
| 51 | Essex on the Park | 41°52′17.4″N 87°37′28.9″W / 41.871500°N 87.624694°W | 620 (189) | 57 | 2019 | Residential | ||
| 52 | Millennium Centre | 41°53′35″N 87°37′45″W / 41.89306°N 87.62917°W | 610 (186) | 58 | 2003 | Residential | ||
| 53 | Chicago Place | 41°53′43″N 87°37′30.5″W / 41.89528°N 87.625139°W | 608 (185) | 49 | 1991 | Mixed-use | Mixed-use residential and office building. | |
| 54 | Chicago Board of Trade Building | 41°52′39.5″N 87°37′56″W / 41.877639°N 87.63222°W | 605 (184) | 44 | 1930 | Office | One of the tallest Art Deco buildings in the world; tallest building completed in Chicago in the 1930s. Was the tallest building in Chicago before being surpassed by the Richard J. Daley Center. | |
| 55 | One Prudential Plaza | 41°53′5″N 87°37′24″W / 41.88472°N 87.62333°W | 601 (183) | 41 | 1955 | Office | Tallest building completed in Chicago in the 1950s. | |
| 56 | 333 South Wabash | 41°52′38″N 87°37′32″W / 41.87722°N 87.62556°W | 601 (183) | 44 | 1972 | Office | ||
| 57 | Heller International Building | 41°52′51″N 87°38′25″W / 41.88083°N 87.64028°W | 600 (183) | 45 | 1992 | Office | ||
| 58 | 200 West Madison | 41°52′56″N 87°38′4″W / 41.88222°N 87.63444°W | 599 (182) | 44 | 1982 | Office | ||
| 59 | The Grant | 41°52′1.5″N 87°37′19″W / 41.867083°N 87.62194°W | 595 (181) | 54 | 2010 | Residential | ||
| 60 | 1000 Lake Shore Plaza | 41°54′3.5″N 87°37′28″W / 41.900972°N 87.62444°W | 590 (180) | 55 | 1964 | Residential | ||
| 61 | The Clare | 41°53′50″N 87°37′34″W / 41.89722°N 87.62611°W | 589 (179) | 52 | 2009 | Residential | An independent-living community for seniors | |
| 62 | Accenture Tower | 41°52′56″N 87°38′26″W / 41.88222°N 87.64056°W | 588 (179) | 42 | 1987 | Office | ||
| 63 | Marina City I | 41°53′17.5″N 87°37′42.5″W / 41.888194°N 87.628472°W | 588 (179) | 61 | 1964 | Residential | Marina City was the first building in the United States to be constructed with the Linden climbing tower cranes. It was also the first post-war urban high-rise residential complex in the United States. The two towers were both the tallest residential and tallest concrete structures in the world upon completion in 1968. | |
| 64 | Marina City II | 41°53′16.5″N 87°37′45″W / 41.887917°N 87.62917°W | 588 (179) | 61 | 1964 | Residential | Marina City was the first building in the United States to be constructed with the Linden climbing tower cranes. It was also the first post-war urban high-rise residential complex in the United States. The two towers were both the tallest residential and tallest concrete structures in the world upon completion in 1968. | |
| 65 | Optima Signature | 41°53′29.5″N 87°37′18″W / 41.891528°N 87.62167°W | 587 (179) | 57 | 2017 | Residential | ||
| 66 | Mid-Continental Plaza | 41°52′49″N 87°37′32.5″W / 41.88028°N 87.625694°W | 583 (178) | 49 | 1972 | Mixed-use | Also known by its address, 55 East Monroe. Mixed-use office and residential skyscraper. | |
| 67 | Crain Communications Building | 41°53′5″N 87°37′30″W / 41.88472°N 87.62500°W | 582 (177) | 41 | 1983 | Office | Also known by its address, 150 North Michigan Avenue. | |
| 68 | North Pier Apartments | 41°53′27″N 87°36′52.5″W / 41.89083°N 87.614583°W | 581 (177) | 61 | 1990 | Residential | ||
| 69 | Citadel Center | 41°52′47″N 87°37′43″W / 41.87972°N 87.62861°W | 580 (177) | 39 | 2003 | Office | ||
| 70 | The Fordham | 41°53′43.5″N 87°37′38″W / 41.895417°N 87.62722°W | 574 (175) | 52 | 2003 | Residential | ||
| 71 | One Chicago West Tower | 41°53′47″N 87°37′46″W / 41.896437°N 87.62933°W | 574 (174) | 49 | 2021 | Residential | Also known as 23 West Chicago Avenue. | |
| 72 | 190 South LaSalle Street | 41°52′47″N 87°37′58″W / 41.87972°N 87.63278°W | 573 (175) | 40 | 1987 | Office | ||
| 73 | One South Dearborn | 41°52′54″N 87°37′43″W / 41.88167°N 87.62861°W | 571 (174) | 39 | 2005 | Office | ||
| 74 | Axis Apartments | 41°53′38″N 87°36′59″W / 41.89389°N 87.61639°W | 570 (174) | 60 | 1986 | Residential | Formerly known as the Onterie Center. Originally an office tower. | |
| 75 | Loews Hotel Tower | 41°53′23.9″N 87°37′8″W / 41.889972°N 87.61889°W | 569 (174) | 52 | 2015 | Mixed-use | Mixed-use hotel and residential skyscraper. | |
| 76 | Chicago Temple Building | 41°52′59″N 87°37′50″W / 41.88306°N 87.63056°W | 568 (173) | 21 | 1924 | Mixed-use | Tallest building completed in Chicago in the 1920s. Was the tallest building in Chicago before being surpassed by the Chicago Board Of Trade Building. | |
| 77 | Palmolive Building | 41°53′59″N 87°37′25″W / 41.89972°N 87.62361°W | 565 (172) | 37 | 1929 | Office | ||
| 78 | Kluczynski Federal Building | 41°52′42.2″N 87°37′47.6″W / 41.878389°N 87.629889°W | 562 (171) | 42 | 1974 | Office | ||
| 79 | Cirrus | 41°53′11″N 87°36′53″W / 41.88639°N 87.61472°W | 562 (171) | 37 | 2021 | Residential | ||
| 80 | Huron Plaza | 41°53′43″N 87°37′36″W / 41.89528°N 87.62667°W | 560 (171) | 56 | 1983 | Residential | ||
| 81 | Boeing International Headquarters | 41°53′2.5″N 87°38′19″W / 41.884028°N 87.63861°W | 560 (171) | 36 | 1990 | Office | Also known as the Boeing Building or by its address, 100 North Riverside Plaza. Was the headquarters of Boeing from 2001 to 2022. | |
| 82 | Pittsfield Building | 41°52′59″N 87°37′52.5″W / 41.88306°N 87.631250°W | 557 (170) | 38 | 1927 | Office | ||
| 83 | The Parkshore | 41°53′8.5″N 87°36′53″W / 41.885694°N 87.61472°W | 556 (169) | 56 | 1991 | Residential | ||
| 84 | North Harbor Tower | 41°53′7.5″N 87°36′55.5″W / 41.885417°N 87.615417°W | 556 (169) | 55 | 1988 | Residential | ||
| 85 | Civic Opera House | 41°52′57″N 87°38′14.5″W / 41.88250°N 87.637361°W | 555 (169) | 45 | 1929 | Mixed-use | Most of the 45-story building is office space. The lower floors house a performance space that is the second-largest opera auditorium in North America, after the Metropolitan Opera House. | |
| 86 | Harbor Point | 41°53′6″N 87°36′53″W / 41.88500°N 87.61472°W | 554 (169) | 54 | 1975 | Residential | ||
| 87 | Atwater Apartments | 41°53′32″N 87°37′5″W / 41.89222°N 87.61806°W | 554 (169) | 55 | 2009 | Residential | Also known as Streeter Place. | |
| 88 | 30 North LaSalle | 41°52′58″N 87°37′58.5″W / 41.88278°N 87.632917°W | 553 (169) | 44 | 1975 | Office | ||
| 89 | Michigan Plaza South | 41°53′10″N 87°37′25″W / 41.885994°N 87.623543°W | 553 (169) | 46 | 1985 | Office | ||
| 90 | Newberry Plaza | 41°54′05″N 87°37′44″W / 41.90152°N 87.628853°W | 553 (169) | 53 | 1974 | Residential | ||
| 91 | One South Wacker | 41°52′54″N 87°38′10″W / 41.881531°N 87.636078°W | 550 (168) | 40 | 1982 | Office | ||
| 92 | Park Millennium | – | 41°53′12″N 87°37′17″W / 41.886578°N 87.621498°W | 544 (166) | 57 | 2002 | Residential | |
| 93 | AMLI River North | – | 41°53′23″N 87°37′51″W / 41.889782°N 87.630707°W | 543 (166) | 49 | 2013 | Residential | |
| 94 | The Franklin – South Tower | – | 41°52′47″N 87°38′05″W / 41.879766°N 87.634860°W | 538 (164) | 35 | 1992 | Office | |
| 95 | Field Building | 41°52′47″N 87°37′54″W / 41.87973°N 87.631569°W | 535 (163) | 45 | 1934 | Mixed-use | Originally an office building, now a mixed-use office and residential building. | |
| 96 | The Pinnacle | – | 41°53′40″N 87°37′38″W / 41.894505°N 87.62709°W | 535 (163) | 48 | 2004 | Residential | |
| 97 | Park Place Tower | 41°57′16″N 87°38′50″W / 41.954414°N 87.647339°W | 531 (162) | 56 | 1971 | Residential | ||
| 98 | One North LaSalle | 41°52′56″N 87°37′55″W / 41.882278°N 87.63205°W | 530 (162) | 48 | 1930 | Office | ||
| 99 | Elysées Condominiums | 41°53′52″N 87°37′31″W / 41.897903°N 87.625221°W | 529 (161) | 56 | 1973 | Residential | ||
| 100 | 465 North Park | 41°53′27″N 87°37′09″W / 41.890736°N 87.619263°W | 525 (160) | 48 | 2018 | Residential | ||
| 101 | River Plaza | 41°53′24″N 87°37′33″W / 41.889866°N 87.625793°W | 524 (160) | 56 | 1977 | Residential | ||
| 102 | 35 East Wacker | 41°53′11″N 87°37′36″W / 41.886501°N 87.626785°W | 523 (159) | 40 | 1927 | Office | ||
| 103 | Arrive Michigan Avenue | – | 41°51′54″N 87°37′28″W / 41.865044°N 87.624565°W | 523 (159) | 48 | 2019 | Residential | Also known as The Paragon. |
| 104 | Kemper Building | 41°53′11″N 87°37′39″W / 41.886501°N 87.627548°W | 522 (159) | 41 | 1962 | Office | Also known as the United Insurance Building, or Unitrin Building. | |
| 105 | Mather Tower | 41°53′15″N 87°37′32″W / 41.887596°N 87.625458°W | 521 (159) | 38 | 1928 | Hotel | Also known as Club Quarters River Hotel | |
| 106 | 30 South Wacker | 41°52′51″N 87°38′15″W / 41.880863°N 87.637527°W | 520 (158) | 40 | 1983 | Office | Also known as "the Merc"; part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Center. | |
| 107 | 10 South Wacker | 41°52′54″N 87°38′15″W / 41.881584°N 87.637527°W | 520 (158) | 40 | 1987 | Office | ||
| 108 | The Columbian | 41°52′04″N 87°37′28″W / 41.867695°N 87.62458°W | 517 (158) | 47 | 2008 | Residential | ||
| 109 | 151 North Franklin | 41°53′05″N 87°38′06″W / 41.884815°N 87.634933°W | 517 (158) | 35 | 2018 | Office | In June 2018, 151 North Franklin became the new corporate headquarters for CNA Insurance, which has been headquartered in the Chicago Loop since 1900. CNA Insurance was previously located at 333 South Wabash. | |
| 110 | 191 North Wacker | 41°53′07″N 87°38′11″W / 41.885338°N 87.636475°W | 516 (157) | 37 | 2002 | Office | ||
| 111 | 425 South Financial Place | 41°52′33″N 87°37′56″W / 41.875904°N 87.632172°W | 515 (157) | 39 | 1985 | Office | Also known as One Financial Place | |
| 112 | 401 East Ontario | – | 41°53′36″N 87°37′01″W / 41.893211°N 87.616898°W | 515 (157) | 51 | 1990 | Residential | |
| 113 | Millie on Michigan | – | 41°53′13″N 87°37′30″W / 41.88699°N 87.625°W | 515 (157) | 47 | 2022 | Residential | |
| 114 | The Streeter | – | 41°53′32″N 87°37′09″W / 41.892361°N 87.619034°W | 514 (157) | 50 | 2007 | Residential | |
| 115 | Park Tower Condominiums | 41°58′48″N 87°39′17″W / 41.980114°N 87.654716°W | 513 (156) | 54 | 1973 | Residential | Not to be confused with Park Tower. Also known as 5415 North Sheridan. | |
| 116 | 600 North Lake Shore Drive – South Tower | 41°53′34″N 87°36′54″W / 41.892876°N 87.614967°W | 513 (156) | 47 | 2009 | Residential | ||
| 117 | LaSalle-Wacker Building | 41°53′11″N 87°37′55″W / 41.886494°N 87.631973°W | 512 (156) | 41 | 1930 | Office | ||
| 118 | Harris Bank Addition II | 41°52′49″N 87°37′55″W / 41.88028°N 87.631912°W | 510 (155) | 55 | 1974 | Office | Officially renamed to the Jesse White State of Illinois building in 2025. | |
| 119 | 321 North Clark | 41°53′18″N 87°37′50″W / 41.888218°N 87.63063°W | 510 (155) | 38 | 1987 | Office | Also known as Quaker Tower. | |
| 120 | 215 West | 41°52′59″N 87°38′04″W / 41.882946°N 87.634438°W | 509 (155) | 50 | 2010 | Residential | ||
| 121 | Carbide & Carbon Building | 41°53′12″N 87°37′30″W / 41.886574°N 87.624886°W | 503 (153) | 37 | 1929 | Hotel | Now a hotel known as Pendry Chicago. | |
| 122 | 400 East Ohio Street | – | 41°53′34″N 87°37′03″W / 41.892807°N 87.617409°W | 503 (153) | 50 | 1982 | Residential | |
| 123 | One Superior Place | – | 41°53′44″N 87°37′45″W / 41.895451°N 87.629028°W | 502 (153) | 52 | 1999 | Residential | |
| 124 | 10 South LaSalle | 41°52′54″N 87°37′58″W / 41.881599°N 87.632706°W | 501 (153) | 37 | 1986 | Office | Formerly known under several names, including Chemical Plaza, Manufacturers Hanover Plaza, and Chase Plaza. | |
| 125 | 120 North LaSalle | 41°53′01″N 87°37′58″W / 41.883717°N 87.632896°W | 501 (153) | 39 | 1992 | Office | ||
| 126 | 200 South Wacker Drive | 41°52′44″N 87°38′15″W / 41.879021°N 87.63739°W | 500 (152) | 41 | 1981 | Office | ||
| 127 | The Tides at Lakeshore East | 41°53′12″N 87°37′05″W / 41.886677°N 87.618164°W | 500 (152) | 51 | 2008 | Residential | ||
| 128 | Parkview West | – | 41°53′28″N 87°37′02″W / 41.891247°N 87.617271°W | 498 (152) | 49 | 2008 | Residential | |
| 129 | 500 North Lake Shore Drive | – | 41°53′30″N 87°36′53″W / 41.891624°N 87.614777°W | 497 (151) | 47 | 2013 | Residential | |
| 130 | 727 West Madison | 41°52′53″N 87°38′48″W / 41.881454°N 87.646667°W | 496 (151) | 45 | 2018 | Residential | Also known as 1 South Halsted. | |
| 131 | 55 West Monroe | – | 41°52′49″N 87°37′47″W / 41.880367°N 87.629814°W | 495 (151) | 41 | 1980 | Office | Also known as the Xerox Center. |
| 132 | Ontario Place | – | 41°53′37″N 87°37′40″W / 41.893562°N 87.627762°W | 495 (151) | 49 | 1983 | Residential | |
| 133 | The Row | 41°53′06″N 87°39′01″W / 41.88496°N 87.650169°W | 495 (151) | 43 | 2023 | Residential | ||
| 134 | 50 East Chestnut Street | 41°53′55″N 87°37′34″W / 41.898544°N 87.626198°W | 495 (151) | 40 | 2008 | Residential | ||
| 135 | The Ritz-Carlton Residences | – | 41°53′40″N 87°37′29″W / 41.894474°N 87.624634°W | 495 (151) | 40 | 2012 | Residential | |
| 136 | PNC Center | – | 41°52′56″N 87°38′06″W / 41.882256°N 87.634972°W | 494 (151) | 36 | 1992 | Office | Also known as One North Franklin |
| 137 | No. 9 Walton | – | 41°53′59″N 87°37′44″W / 41.899708°N 87.628761°W | 494 (151) | 38 | 2018 | Residential |
- Height is an estimated minimum.
Tallest buildings by pinnacle 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.
| Pinn. Rank | Std. Rank | Name | Pinnacle height ft (m) | Standard height ft (m) | Floors | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Willis Tower | 1,730 (527) | 1,451 (442) | 110 | 1974 | |
| 2 | 5 | 875 North Michigan Avenue | 1,500 (457) | 1,127 (344) | 100 | 1969 | |
| 3 | 2 | Trump International Hotel and Tower | 1,389 (423) | 1,389 (423) | 98 | 2009 | |
| 4 | 3 | St Regis Chicago | 1,198 (365) | 1,198 (365) | 101 | 2020 | |
| 5 | 4 | Aon Center | 1,136 (346) | 1,136 (346) | 83 | 1973 | |
| 6 | 6 | Franklin Center North Tower | 1,007 (307) | 887 (270) | 61 | 1989 | |
| 7 | 7 | Two Prudential Plaza | 995 (303) | 995 (303) | 64 | 1990 | |
| 8 | 8 | 311 South Wacker Drive | 961 (293) | 961 (293) | 65 | 1990 | |
| 9 | 51 | One Prudential Plaza | 912 (278) | 601 (183) | 41 | 1955 | |
| 10 | 9 | NEMA Chicago | 896 (273) | 896 (273) | 76 | 2019 |
Tallest under construction or proposed
Under construction
There are three buildings that are under construction in Chicago that are planned to rise at least 492 feet (150 m) including buildings whose construction is on-hold. A floor count of 50 stories is used as the cutoff for buildings whose heights have not yet been released by their developers. The "Year" category denotes when the building is expected to be completed.
| Name | Height ft (m) | Floors | Year (est.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 Lake Shore Drive North Tower | 875 (267) | 72 | 2027 | Approved on December 14, 2020. Groundbreaking ceremony was held in June 2024. Construction reached 38th floor as of July 2025. |
Approved
This lists buildings that are approved for construction in Chicago and that are planned to rise at least 492 feet (150 m). A floor count of 50 stories is used as the cutoff for buildings whose heights have not yet been released by their developers. The "Year" category denotes when construction of the building is expected to begin. A dash "—" indicates information about the building's construction or floor count is unknown or not publicly available.
| Name | Height ft (m) | Floors | Year (est.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tribune East Tower | 1,442 (440) | 113 | 2027 | Approved May 11, 2020. Delayed several times, construction was expected to start in 2024. though none has occurred as of 2025. Would become the second-tallest building in Chicago if completed. |
| 400 Lake Shore Drive South Tower | 765 (233) | — | — | Approved December 14, 2020 |
| Halsted Pointe Phase 3 | 697 (212) | 55 | — | Part of the five-tower Halsted Pointe Complex. |
| Halsted Landing Phase 3A | 650 (198) | 57 | 2037 | Part of the four-tower Halsted Landing Complex. |
| Halsted Landing Phase 1 | 600 (183) | 56 | 2031 | Part of the four-tower Halsted Landing Complex. |
| 420 North May Street | 575 (175) | 53 | 2027 | |
| Halsted Landing Phase 3B | 550 (168) | 51 | 2037 | Part of the four-tower Halsted Landing Complex. |
| Halsted Pointe Phase 1 | 504 (154) | 46 | — | Part of the five-tower Halsted Pointe Complex. Financing for Phase 1 secured in early 2024. |
| Halsted Landing Phase 2 | 500 (152) | 44 | 2034 | Part of the four-tower Halsted Landing Complex. |
| Halsted Pointe Phase 2B | 497 (151) | 47 | — | Part of the five-tower Halsted Pointe Complex. |
Tallest demolished
This table lists buildings in Chicago that were demolished or destroyed and at one time stood at least 492 feet (150 m) in height.
| Name | Image | Height ft (m) | Floors | Purpose | Year completed | Year demolished | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morrisons Hotel | 526 (160) | 45 | Hotel | 1925 | 1965 | Was the tallest hotel in Chicago until its demolition. First building outside of New York City to have more than 40 floors. The hotel first opened in 1915, with the tower added during an expansion in 1925. It was demolished in 1965. The Chase Tower was later built on the site. |
Tallest unbuilt
This lists buildings designed to rise at least 800 feet (244 m) 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.
| Name | Height ft (m) | Floors | Approved | Cancelled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 South Dearborn | 2,000 (610) | 112 | 1999 | 2000 | One South Dearborn was built on the site instead. |
| Chicago Spire | 2,000 (610) | 150 | 2007 | 2014 | 400 Lake Shore Drive is the existing proposal for the site. |
| Old Chicago Main Post Office Twin Towers | 2,000 (610) | 120 | 2011 | 2014 | Part of the Old Chicago Main Post Office Redevelopment pursued by Bill Davies. |
| Thompson Center Redevelopment | 1,699 (518) | 115 | 2017 | — | Thompson Center is acquired by Alphabet Inc. and is being renovated to become Google's new Midwest HQ. |
| Waterview Tower | 1,047 (319) | 89 | 2005 | 2008 | The original design for Waterview Tower was cancelled after construction of the first 26 floors of the building. OneEleven was built on the vacated structure. |
Timeline of tallest buildings
| Name | Image | Years as tallest | Height ft (m) | Floors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Holy Name Cathedral[A] | 1854–1869 | 245 (75) | 1 | ||
| Saint Michael's Church | 1869–1885 | 290 (88) | 1 | ||
| Chicago Board of Trade Building[B] | 1885–1895 | 322 (98) | 10 | ||
| Masonic Temple Building | 1895–1899[C] | 302 (92) | 21 | ||
| Montgomery Ward Building[D] | 1899–1922 | 394 (120) | 22 | ||
| Wrigley Building | 1922–1924 | 438 (134) | 30 | ||
| Chicago Temple Building | 1924–1930 | 568 (173) | 23 | ||
| Chicago Board of Trade Building | 1930–1965 | 605 (184) | 44 | ||
| Richard J. Daley Center | 1965–1969 | 648 (198) | 32 | ||
| Chase Tower (Chicago) | 1969 | 850 (260) | 60 | ||
| John Hancock Center | 1969–1973 | 1,127 (344) | 100 | ||
| Aon Center | 1973–1974 | 1,136 (346) | 83 | ||
| Willis Tower | 1974–present | 1,451 (442) | 108 |
Notes
- A. ^ This building was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, and replaced by the current cathedral of the same name in 1875.
- B. ^ The clock tower on this building was removed in 1895, allowing a shorter building to become the tallest in the city.
- C. ^ The Masonic Temple, built in 1892, became the tallest in Chicago three years later when the Board of Trade Building had its clock tower removed.
- D. ^ This building is currently 282 feet (86 m) tall, following the removal of a pyramid top and sculpture.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skyscrapers in Chicago.
- Architecture of Chicago
- List of Chicago Landmarks
- List of cities with most skyscrapers
- List of tallest buildings in the United States
- List of buildings with over 100 floors
- List of tallest buildings in Illinois outside of Chicago
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