Sell plastic pallets in Illinois
Illinois had 80,071 warehousing jobs in 2025, 7th among the states, and its most concentrated pallet-using industry is pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing. Send the lot with its ZIP; the desk reads size, style, grade and marks, and rules it sold, returned or scrapped.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
Illinois in numbers
- Warehousing and storage jobs, 2025
- 80,071 (7th of 50 states)
- Warehousing establishments
- 864 (8th of 50); about 93 jobs each
- Share of US warehousing jobs
- 4.21%
- Food manufacturing jobs
- 98,300 (3rd of 50)
- Most concentrated pallet-using industry
- pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing, 1.8x the national share of employment
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs
- 24,257
- Motor vehicle assembly jobs
- 12,606
- Auto parts jobs
- 21,206
- Refrigerated warehouse space, October 1, 2025
- 190 million cubic feet (8th of 50)
Reading an Illinois lot
Count the warehouses and Illinois comes 8th; count the jobs in them and it comes 7th. It sits in the upper third of the fifty by warehousing jobs. With about 93 people a site against a national 82, a single dock here can hold a truckload at once.
Illinois has 1.2 food manufacturing jobs for every warehousing job, against 0.9 across the fifty states. The plants are the bigger half of the picture, and they swap pallets on a schedule more than on wear. Among the other industries counted here, pharmaceutical manufacturing (24,257 jobs) is 1.9 times the size of motor vehicle assembly (12,606).
Will County holds 31.7% of Illinois's warehousing jobs, and the top 3 listed hold 62.2%. Three counties carry most of the market, and a lot near any of them is close to the most dock activity. The dossier follows one metro in Illinois: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin.
USDA counted 190 million cubic feet of refrigerated warehouse space in Illinois, 8th of 50 and about 2,373 cubic feet for each warehousing job, against 2,254 across the states it reports. Cold storage is a bigger part of the picture here, so expect cold-chain lots: decks that tolerate cold and moisture, and questions about washdown.
Where Illinois's warehousing jobs sit
| County | Warehousing jobs | Share of the state's total |
|---|---|---|
| Will | 25,357 | 31.7% |
| Cook | 16,057 | 20.1% |
| DuPage | 8,368 | 10.5% |
What Illinois's industries put on the dock
- Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing: 24,257 jobs, 2025
- Grocery and related product wholesale: 48,629 jobs, 2025
- Refrigerated warehousing: 4,095 jobs, 2025
- Food manufacturing: 98,300 jobs, 2025
- Chemical manufacturing: 48,745 jobs, 2025
By location quotient pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing leads in Illinois, with 1.8 times the national share of employment. The page on pharmaceutical plants shows what that industry sets down on a dock.
The metro that matters in Illinois
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin: 13 counties (Cook, DuPage, Grundy, McHenry, Will, DeKalb...). 59,586 private jobs in warehousing and storage in 2025 (3.13% of the US total; 1.5% of local private jobs), disclosed counties only. Largest warehousing counties: Will (25,357), Cook (16,057), DuPage (8,368). Most concentrated: pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing at 2.1x the national share of employment. ZIPs with the most warehousing establishments (Census ZBP 2023): 60446 Romeoville (36), 60638 Chicago (31), 60436 Joliet (24), 60440 Bolingbrook (22), 60007 Elk Grove Village (20).
Where Illinois sits among the fifty
| Measure, 2025 | Illinois | Next state above | Next state below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warehousing jobs | 7th: 80,071 | Georgia, 84,730 (+4,659) | New Jersey, 76,152 (-3,919) |
| Warehousing establishments | 8th: 864 | New Jersey, 911 (+47) | New York, 833 (-31) |
| Food manufacturing jobs | 3rd: 98,300 | Texas, 112,088 (+13,788) | Pennsylvania, 82,538 (-15,762) |
States next to Illinois
| State | Warehousing jobs | Largest county for warehousing | Food manufacturing jobs | Top concentration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 33,054 | Kenosha (8,358) | 81,993 | dairy product manufacturing |
| Iowa | 19,824 | Polk (4,393) | 60,161 | meat and poultry processing |
| Missouri | 26,726 | St. Charles (5,782) | 45,268 | motor vehicle manufacturing |
| Kentucky | 38,281 | Boone (9,121) | 31,273 | motor vehicle manufacturing |
| Indiana | 67,506 | Boone (12,552) | 46,474 | motor vehicle parts manufacturing |
Illinois has more warehousing jobs than any of these. The largest of them, Indiana, has 0.8 times Illinois's 80,071. A lot near a state line can be read against either side, so give the exact ZIP.
More on Illinois from the sources
- Private employers in the US averaged 1,775,008 jobs across 42,763 establishments in food manufacturing (NAICS 311) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (166,660), Texas (112,088), Illinois (98,300), Pennsylvania (82,538), Wisconsin (81,993). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 350,886 jobs across 7,786 establishments in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing (NAICS 3254) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (42,575), New Jersey (30,062), North Carolina (26,998), New York (25,087), Illinois (24,257). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 892,426 jobs across 25,801 establishments in chemical manufacturing (NAICS 325) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Texas (90,310), California (75,499), Ohio (49,328), Illinois (48,745), New Jersey (47,966). (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 829,364 jobs across 49,933 establishments in grocery and related product wholesale (NAICS 4244) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (109,827), Texas (75,474), Florida (63,967), New York (50,594), Illinois (48,629). (data.bls.gov)
Other pallet-using industries counted in Illinois
| Industry | Jobs, 2025 | Against warehousing jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical manufacturing | 24,257 | 0.3 to 1 |
| Motor vehicle assembly | 12,606 | 0.2 to 1 |
| Auto parts | 21,206 | 0.3 to 1 |
Sending a lot from Illinois
Count the stacks, give the ZIP where they stand, and use the sorter or the form below. If the dock holds a clean closed-loop stock, say so in the message.
How many warehousing jobs does Illinois have?
80,071 private-sector jobs across 864 establishments in 2025, 4.21% of the US total, which ranks Illinois 7th of 50.
Do you take plastic pallets from Illinois?
Yes. The desk reads lots from every state, and the ZIP lets it read the route in Illinois. This site states no price or pickup date.
Which Illinois industry is most concentrated?
Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing, at 1.8 times the national share of employment in the 2025 federal data used here.
What the sources say
- Private employers in the US averaged 829,364 jobs across 49,933 establishments in grocery and related product wholesale (NAICS 4244) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (109,827), Texas (75,474), Florida (63,967), New York (50,594), Illinois (48,629). (data.bls.gov)
- Counties with the most private grocery and related product wholesale jobs (NAICS 4244) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (36,194), Cook County, Illinois (23,404), Miami-Dade County, Florida (14,422), Harris County, Texas (14,172), Dallas County, Texas (12,337), Maricopa County, Arizona (9,996). (data.bls.gov)
- The five states with the most warehousing and storage jobs held 39% of the national total in 2025, and the top ten held 58% (California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Indiana, New York), BLS QCEW. (data.bls.gov)
- Private employers in the US averaged 350,886 jobs across 7,786 establishments in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing (NAICS 3254) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (42,575), New Jersey (30,062), North Carolina (26,998), New York (25,087), Illinois (24,257). (data.bls.gov)
- ISO 6780 lists 1016 x 1219 mm for North America, 1000 x 1200 mm for Europe and Asia and 800 x 1200 mm for Europe. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Greystone Logistics processed about 60 million pounds of recycled plastic in the year ended May 31, 2024, using damaged plastic pallets from a buy-back program among its feedstock. (resource-recycling.com)
- A 48 x 40 pallet fits 30 stacks in a turned pattern on a 53 ft dry van, per one supplier. (nelsoncompany.com)
- California AB 1760 (2022) lets recyclers take possession of stray proprietary pallets if the owner cannot be identified or fails to retrieve them in time, with a 35-day period before they can be declared abandoned. (palletenterprise.com)
- Rehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 heavy-duty nestable pallet is 48.25 x 40.25 x 6.5 in, weighs 28.5 lb, is rated 10,000 lb static and 3,500 lb dynamic, has a 2.55 in nest increment and 1,200 units per 53 ft trailer; the page lists no racking rating. (rehrigpacific.com)
- Cabka says plastic export pallets are exempt from ISPM-15 treatment, that there is no single export size, and that its nestable export designs include extra-lightweight and air-freight versions. (cabka.com)
- Private employers in the US averaged 316,938 jobs across 16,316 establishments in beverage manufacturing (NAICS 3121) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (63,604), Texas (24,154), New York (13,802), Pennsylvania (13,207), Florida (12,661). (data.bls.gov)
- Port of Long Beach moved a record 9,881,595 TEUs in 2025 (imports 4,779,559; exports 1,141,113; empties 3,960,925), per Container News reporting the port's year-end results. (container-news.com)
- USDA APHIS requires wood packaging material entering the US to be treated and certified under ISPM 15, and lists plastic pallets among alternatives that are not subject to APHIS regulation. (aphis.usda.gov)
- Counties with the most private meat and poultry processing jobs (NAICS 3116) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Hall County, Georgia (11,123), Cook County, Illinois (8,367), Sussex County, Delaware (8,212), Marshall County, Alabama (7,387), Fresno County, California (6,499), Douglas County, Nebraska (6,452). (data.bls.gov)
- Counties with the most private motor vehicle parts manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3363) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (20,888), Macomb County, Michigan (20,279), Oakland County, Michigan (16,970), Kent County, Michigan (8,688), Spartanburg County, South Carolina (6,496), Cook County, Illinois (6,273). (data.bls.gov)
- Wood packaging material entering the US must be treated and certified per ISPM 15. (aphis.usda.gov)
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Size, count, grade, branding and ZIP. Photos help, and you can reply to the first answer with them. This site states no price or pickup date.