Home > Location Advantages

Location Advantages

Kankakee County is ideally situated 45 miles south of Downtown Chicago along the I-57 Corridor. Ready access to the interstate, rail, all utilities, fiber and workforce means our diversified business community, including Fortune and Global 500 companies, is able to thrive.
Kankakee County is highly ranked in multiple sectors.
  • #1 Best Small Community for Carpenters (AdvisorSmith)
  • #2 for Best Small Community for Law Enforcement Officers (AdvisorSmith)
  • #3 as Manufacturing Hubs for small MSAs (Business Facilities Magazine)
  • #6 Best Small Communities for Nursing (AdvisorSmith)
  • Ranked the #1 Metro in the Midwest for 5-year  job and wage growth (Area Development magazine)
Transportation & Infrastructure
  • Interstate Access: Sic I-57 Exits including the new Bourbonnais Parkway interchange at exit 318; daily traffic at +40k cars/day
  • Class 1 Rail: Canadian National, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific
  • Public Transit: River Valley Metro bus service, traditional routes, paratransit service, service to Midway Airport 12 times/day – $2 each way
  • Fiber: Dark fiver is accessible from multiple carriers.
  • Water: Aqua Illinois system-wide capacity totals 30 MGD

Air

  • Greater Kankakee Airport (IKK) is the Chicago Southland’s largest regional airport, with the longest runway outside of Midway
    International, at 5,981 feet. IKK is also home to a state-of-the-art $65M Illinois Army National Guard Readiness Center and Army Aviation Support Facility.
  • Kankakee County is in close proximity to Midway International Airport, which is drivable in 50 minutes and accessible by River Valley Metro shuttle service daily, and O’Hare International Airport, drivable in 60 minutes.
Incentives
  • In Kankakee County, enterprise zones provide valuable tools that enable business to invest, grow and hire. Together, our community’s two enterprise zones have seen the addition of nearly 7,000 jobs, as well as more than $2B in capital investment in more than 300 projects. CLICK to download the KC/KRV Enterprise Zone Incentives brochure.
    • The Kankakee River Valley Enterprise Zone includes portions of Aroma Park, Bourbonnais, Bradley, Kankakee, Herscher and unincorporated Kankakee County.
    • The Kankakee County Enterprise Zone includes selected areas of Manteno, Grant Park, Momence, Hopkins Park and unincorporated Kankakee County.

Cost of Living

  • Kankakee County is an economical place to live and do business, with cost of living consistenly well below the national average. 2023 annual cost of living for this area was 87.9%, with the categories of rent, home costs, groceries, utilities and health care well below the 100% average.
  • Based on the after-tax cost for a professional/managerial standard of living, the Cost of Living Index (COLI) is the most reliable source of city-to-city comparisons of key consumer costs available. The COLI survey is administered by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER).