Illinois Federal Contractors: 2024 Filings (complete archive)
Story version: v2.0 (published 2026-04-28). Data retrieved April 2026.
Headline numbers
For 2024, 2,167 companies filed 15,697 reports about Illinois workplaces. They reported 48,198 protected veterans in 90 counties. These are firms with at least 150,000 dollars in federal contracts. That is not all Illinois employers. For the broader picture, see the main story.
Top employers (by reported protected veterans)
| Rank | Parent company (CoName) | Protected veterans (reported) | IL establishments | Top sector (NAICS 2-digit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CONSTELLATION ENERGY GENERATION LLC | 1,674 | 24 | Utilities |
| 2 | United Continental Holding Inc. | 1,308 | 4 | Transportation (48) |
| 3 | CATERPILLAR INC. | 1,304 | 25 | Manufacturing (33) |
| 4 | AMAZON.COM INC. | 1,274 | 47 | Retail Trade (45) |
| 5 | DEERE AND COMPANY | 1,102 | 14 | Manufacturing (33) |
| 6 | UPS | 930 | 59 | Transportation (49) |
| 7 | BNSF RAILWAY | 912 | 45 | Transportation (48) |
| 8 | University of Illinois | 840 | 4 | Educational Services |
| 9 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 748 | 2 | Manufacturing (33) |
| 10 | COMPASS GROUP | 678 | 799 | Accommodation and Food Services |
| 11 | NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE | 660 | 86 | Health Care and Social Assistance |
| 12 | UNION PACIFIC CORPORATION 943 | 578 | 12 | Transportation (48) |
| 13 | NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION | 560 | 6 | Manufacturing (33) |
| 14 | American Airlines | 554 | 5 | Transportation (48) |
| 15 | AT and T Inc. | 534 | 273 | Information |
| 16 | ABBOTT LABORATORIES | 486 | 12 | Manufacturing (31) |
| 17 | LEIDOS | 480 | 24 | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services |
| 18 | GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION | 476 | 6 | Manufacturing (33) |
| 19 | FEDEX EXPRESS | 468 | 57 | Transportation (49) |
| 20 | WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE INC | 460 | 37 | Retail Trade (45) |
| 21 | Allied Universal Security Services | 436 | 8 | Administrative and Support and Waste Management |
| 22 | CVS HEALTH | 408 | 794 | Retail Trade (44) |
| 23 | AbbVie Inc | 366 | 9 | Manufacturing (32) |
| 24 | Northern Illinois University | 352 | 1 | Educational Services |
| 25 | CONTINENTAL TIRE NORTH AMERICA INC | 352 | 5 | Manufacturing (32) |
This is the top 25 of 2,167 parent companies. They are ranked by reported protected veterans. CoName is the parent-company field. Companies with many sites sum across all of them. Source: VETS-4212 filings, 2024.
Industries hiring most protected veterans
This shows top industry sectors by reported protected veterans. Sectors with no industry code are skipped.
County distribution
This shows workplace counties by reported protected veterans. Only Illinois counties are shown. City names and out-of-state entries are filtered out.
Where the workplaces are
This is a map of Illinois counties. Each county is shaded by protected-veteran count across both years. Click a county for its total.
About VETS-4212
VETS-4212 is a yearly form. Federal contractors must file it with the Department of Labor. It tracks protected veterans. That is a narrower group than the Census veteran count. Protected means served in wartime, served on a named campaign, has a disability, or left service in the last three years.
Federal contractors must also set hiring goals under VEVRAA. That is the law behind VETS-4212. The form reports compliance. It does not verify it. The OFCCP is a Labor Department office. It enforces compliance.
Official VETS-4212 program information: dol.gov/agencies/vets/programs/vets4212.
Back to the main story: Illinois Veteran Employment & Business Data 2026
This product uses the U.S. Department of Labor API but is not endorsed or certified by the U.S. Department of Labor.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
© 2026 Rakvia (Henry Montoya). Story content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You can share or adapt this work with credit to Rakvia.
Story version: v2.0 (published 2026-04-28).