Locations / Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
Managed Filipino staff for Chicago businesses.
Trained, managed operations staff and pods for Chicago-area marketing agencies, home service companies and more. Monthly or hourly, working your hours.
Bookkeeping assistant, per hour. Local = May 2025 BLS median wage for the Chicago metro plus about 30% employer costs.
The Chicago market
Who does business in Chicago.
In 2024 the Chicago metro had 5,358 plumbing, HVAC and electrical contractors, the largest of the five markets we serve. The most distinctive is advertising, PR and marketing agencies: they make up 1.16 times their national share of local businesses. Property management and related real estate firms shrank 3.4%. For accounting and bookkeeping firms per resident, Chicago ranks 34th of the 50 largest US metros.
| Industry | Businesses | Per 100k residents | Change on 2023 | Concentration vs US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising, PR and marketing agencies | 1,943 | 21 | −2.8% | 1.16× |
| Plumbing, HVAC and electrical contractors | 5,358 | 57 | −3.0% | 1.10× |
| Property management and related real estate firms | 3,224 | 34 | −3.4% | 1.06× |
| Insurance agencies and brokerages | 4,211 | 45 | −2.8% | 1.06× |
| Accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms | 4,000 | 42 | −2.1% | 1.04× |
Business counts: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages, private sector, Chicago metropolitan area. Concentration compares each industry’s share of local businesses with its share nationally (1.00× = the US average). Per-resident figures use 2025 population estimates.
What a local hire costs in Chicago
The cost of a seat in Chicago, role by role.
Chicago has the 23rd highest median wage for bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks among the 50 largest US metros. Even at the top of our draft range, a managed Molave role costs about 25% less per hour than a local hire with employer costs. That’s a meaningful saving, even before counting recruiting and turnover. Most Chicago bookkeepers earn between $21.93 and $29.62 an hour.
| Role | Chicago median wage | With employer costs | Molave (draft) | Less, at our top rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping assistantBLS: Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks | $24.73 | $32.15 | $14–$24 | 25% |
| Marketing productionBLS: Market research analysts and marketing specialists (more senior than most production roles, so this overstates the gap) | $38.65 | $50.24 | $14–$24 | 52% |
| Customer service / CSRBLS: Customer service representatives | $22.65 | $29.45 | $10–$16 | 46% |
| Admin / operations assistantBLS: Secretaries and administrative assistants | $24.25 | $31.53 | $10–$16 | 49% |
Wages: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, median hourly wage for the Chicago metropolitan area. “With employer costs” adds about 30% for payroll taxes and benefits, rounded from BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation. Molave rates are draft ranges. BLS categories are the closest match to each role, not an exact one. The Chicago metro employs 35,660 bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks and 30,970 marketing specialists and analysts, according to the BLS.
Your team works your day.
Molave staff work Chicago business hours. In Manila that’s a night shift, which is standard in the Filipino outsourcing industry and something we plan around from day one.
Nearby metros
Bookkeeping costs around Chicago.
Chicago sits in the middle of its region: $3.05 an hour below Minneapolis–St. Paul and $0.95 above Houston at the median.
| Metro | Median wage | Middle 50% earn | Firms (2024) | Change on 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | $24.73 | $21.93–$29.62 | 4,000 | −2.1% |
| Dallas–Fort Worth, TX | $24.86 | $21.73–$29.73 | 4,071 | +0.3% |
| Houston, TX | $23.78 | $20.13–$29.07 | 3,316 | +0.5% |
| Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN | $27.78 | $23.14–$30.42 | 1,405 | +1.4% |
| St. Louis, MO | $24.03 | $21.81–$29.14 | 1,046 | −1.9% |
Industries
Who we support in Chicago.
Ordered by how concentrated each industry is in Chicago.
Plug in trained production capacity for SEO, reporting, CRM and client operations.
1,943 advertising, PR and marketing agencies in the Chicago metro.
In Chicago → Home servicesA remote back office that keeps calls, estimates and follow-up moving.
5,358 plumbing, HVAC and electrical contractors in the Chicago metro.
Explore → Property managementA trained operations team for tenant, vendor and listing work.
3,224 property management and related real estate firms in the Chicago metro.
Explore → Insurance agenciesTrained service support that works behind your licensed producers.
4,211 insurance agencies and brokerages in the Chicago metro.
Explore → Bookkeeping & CASA trained offshore accounting operations bench, not a random VA.
4,000 accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms in the Chicago metro.
In Chicago →Chicago questions
Straight answers, with local numbers.
How many accounting and bookkeeping firms are in the Chicago area?
4,000 accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms, based on 2024 BLS data, −2.1% on the year before. That’s 42 for every 100,000 residents.
What does a bookkeeper cost in Chicago?
The median wage for bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks in the Chicago metro is $24.73 an hour (May 2025), and most earn between $21.93 and $29.62. With payroll taxes and benefits, a median hire costs about $32.15 an hour. A managed Molave bookkeeping assistant costs $14–$24 an hour.
Can Molave staff work Chicago hours?
Yes. Staff work Chicago business hours. A 9am–5pm day in Chicago is 10pm–6am in Manila during US daylight saving time and 11pm–7am in winter, a night shift that’s standard in the Filipino outsourcing industry.
Book a staffing call
Start with one role in Chicago.
Tell us what’s stuck. We’ll come back with the role, the person and the price, with no upfront recruiting fee.