Insider Brief
- A new regional report finds that Chicago has emerged as one of the nation’s most concentrated quantum hubs, leading in federal contract funding, research infrastructure and workforce development.
- Illinois is the only state hosting two DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Centers and is investing $1 billion, including $500 million for the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, to anchor commercialization efforts.
- The region produces the third-most quantum-related degrees nationally, supports nearly 12,000 quantum-related workers and is attracting domestic and international firms planning large-scale quantum deployments.
- Image: Photo by Ying Owens on Pexels
Chicago has emerged as one of the country’s most concentrated centers of quantum research, federal funding and workforce development, according to a new regional report that outlines what it calls the area’s “quantum advantages.”
The report, released by commercial real estate firm Newmark under its Chicago Quantum Network research series, argues that Illinois now leads the U.S. in several federal quantum funding metrics, hosts a rare concentration of national research centers and is positioning itself as a commercialization hub through a $1 billion public investment strategy anchored by a new quantum-focused technology park.
The findings place Chicago at the center of a broader national push to turn quantum science — once largely confined to physics laboratories — into deployable computing, networking and sensing systems with commercial and defense applications.
At the top of the report’s rankings is federal contract funding. Illinois leads the U.S. in federal contract funding for quantum, with 27 contracts totaling roughly $51.2 million, according to the analysis. A separate chart of total federal obligations shows Illinois narrowly ahead of California in overall quantum-related federal spending.
The state is also the only one that hosts two U.S. Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Centers: Q-NEXT, led by Argonne National Laboratory, and SQMS, led by Fermilab. Those centers were created under the 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act to coordinate national research in quantum materials, devices and systems.
According to the report, the presence of both centers strengthens access to federal funding and accelerates collaboration among universities, national labs and private industry. It also gives Illinois a role in shaping the federal government’s long-term quantum roadmap.
Illinois operates a 124-mile quantum communication testbed linking Argonne, Fermilab and the University of Chicago. The network supports experiments aimed at developing secure quantum communication systems, sometimes described as early building blocks of a future “quantum internet.” The infrastructure aligns with the National Quantum Internet Blueprint, a federal plan for developing secure quantum networking technologies.
Workforce and Education
Beyond research infrastructure, the report emphasizes Chicago’s talent pipeline. Institutions across the Chicago, Champaign-Urbana and Madison metro areas ranked third nationally in total quantum-related degree completions and second in Ph.D. completions in 2021, awarding 384 doctoral degrees, or roughly 6% of all such completions nationwide.
The Chicago metro area produces the third-most quantum-related degrees among major U.S. metros, behind Los Angeles and ahead of New York and Boston, according to the data cited.
The region also has nearly 12,000 workers in occupations related to quantum technology — including data scientists, electrical engineers, physicists and materials scientists — with employment projected to grow 7% by 2027. The report indicates that Chicago has the second-highest number of physicists and the third-highest number of materials scientists among U.S. metro areas, giving it specialized talent relevant to quantum hardware and materials development.
Quantum computing relies on controlling the behavior of particles such as electrons and photons. That work requires expertise in physics, advanced materials and cryogenic engineering, as well as software and data science. The report suggests that Chicago’s mix of academic institutions and national laboratories provides depth across those domains.
Public Investment and the IQMP
The most visible symbol of the region’s ambitions is the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, or IQMP, a 128-acre campus under development on the former U.S. Steel South Works site on Chicago’s South Side. The park is expected to be on line in 2027.
In 2023, the Chicago region was designated a U.S. Regional Innovation and Technology Hub for quantum technologies. The state has secured a combined $1 billion in funding — approximately $300 million in federal resources and $700 million in state investment — with $500 million in the fiscal 2025 budget dedicated to establishing the IQMP, according to the report.
The campus is designed to bring together companies, researchers, government agencies and universities to develop and commercialize quantum technologies. The report added that the park will provide access to advanced cryogenic and laboratory facilities needed to operate quantum processors, which must often run at temperatures near absolute zero.
Several companies have announced plans to establish operations at the park. PsiQuantum, a California-based firm pursuing photonic quantum computing, is expected to anchor the site and build a million-qubit-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer there, according to the report. Pasqal, a French company focused on neutral-atom quantum systems, plans to invest $65 million to establish its U.S. headquarters in Illinois. IBM, Infleqtion, Diraq and SealsQ are also listed among new market entrants.
The clustering of firms from the U.S., Europe and Australia suggests Chicago is becoming a landing zone for international quantum companies seeking a U.S. base, the report indicates.
Economic Development and Real Estate Implications
As a leader in real estate, the Newmark analysis places heavy emphasis on economic development and real estate. As activity concentrates around the University of Chicago and the pending IQMP, demand for office, laboratory and commercialization space is expected to accelerate, according to the report.
Illinois introduced new quantum-focused incentive programming in 2024, supplementing existing state and local incentives. Projects locating in underserved areas may qualify for enhanced state benefits. According to the report, quantum’s emerging and higher-risk profile could make incentive structures more complex, potentially requiring performance milestones and stakeholder education.
Chicago’s digital infrastructure is also cited as a competitive factor. The region benefits from one of the nation’s densest internet backbones, major internet exchanges, fiber networks and expanding data center infrastructure — assets considered important for quantum-adjacent workloads such as hybrid quantum-classical computing.
The report draws on data from Newmark Research, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, World Business Chicago and federal funding records. It compiles public and private investment announcements, workforce statistics and higher-education completion data to benchmark Chicago against other metro areas.
As a regional development report produced by a commercial real estate firm, it is designed in part to attract investment and tenants. It does not independently assess the technical maturity of specific quantum technologies or evaluate whether projected systems, such as million-qubit computers, will meet stated timelines. Nor does it compare Chicago’s ecosystem against global hubs such as China, Germany or the U.K.
Looking ahead, the success of that strategy will likely depend on whether the IQMP can translate research strengths into sustained commercial activity and whether companies can demonstrate practical applications for quantum computing, networking and sensing.
