Chicago parking ticket statistics

• Chicago issued 5,246,732 tickets in 2025, counting parking, compliance, red-light camera and speed camera tickets.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2025, complete. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for tickets issued 2018 and 2025 (FOIA F129773-022626).
• That is an average of 14,375 Chicago tickets a day.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2025 total divided by 365. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for tickets issued 2018 and 2025 (FOIA F129773-022626).
• 4,645,227 of the tickets Chicago issued in 2025 carried a fine; the other 601,505 carried none.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2025, complete. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for tickets issued 2018 and 2025 (FOIA F129773-022626).
• Red-light and speed camera violations were 6,604,450 of the 15,609,076 tickets Chicago issued in 2022–2024 (42%).#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2022–2024, all three years combined. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• Another 1,770,354 of those tickets were speed camera warnings, which carry no fine.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2022–2024, all three years combined. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).

• 883,240 Chicago license plates got at least one ticket in 2025.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2025, complete. Plates registered to a Chicago address. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Counts of ticketed license plates, by year and by number of tickets (FOIA F136386-041726).
• That is roughly 7 in 10 of the 1,289,632 vehicles available to Chicago households.#
  Source

  Ticketed plates from 2025; vehicles from the 2024 Census estimate. The two are counted differently, so this is a ratio, not an exact share. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Counts of ticketed license plates, by year and by number of tickets (FOIA F136386-041726); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table B25046 (vehicles available), Chicago city.
• 546,590 ticketed Chicago plates (62%) got two or more tickets in 2025.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2025, complete. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Counts of ticketed license plates, by year and by number of tickets (FOIA F136386-041726).
• 39,880 Chicago plates got 11 or more tickets in 2025, and 339 got more than 50.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2025, complete. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Counts of ticketed license plates, by year and by number of tickets (FOIA F136386-041726).

• Chicago bills drivers $429.1 million a year in tickets and late penalties, counting both what was paid and what is still owed.#
  Source

  Yearly average of tickets issued 2022–2024, counting payments and balances in the records the City produced in December 2025. Balances on recent tickets can still change. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• $140.5 million a year of that is late penalties added to unpaid tickets, 32.7% of the total.#
  Source

  Yearly average of tickets issued 2022–2024, counting payments and balances in the records the City produced in December 2025. Balances on recent tickets can still change. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• $263.1 million a year is billed to vehicles registered at a Chicago (606) ZIP code.#
  Source

  Yearly average of tickets issued 2022–2024, counting payments and balances in the records the City produced in December 2025. Balances on recent tickets can still change. ZIP is the registered owner’s ZIP, not where the ticket was written. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• Red-light and speed cameras account for $203.8 million a year, 47% of what the City bills drivers.#
  Source

  Yearly average of tickets issued 2022–2024, counting payments and balances in the records the City produced in December 2025. Balances on recent tickets can still change. Includes late penalties on camera tickets. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).

• The red light camera ticket costs Chicago drivers more than any other type: $98.2 million billed a year.#
  Source

  Yearly average of tickets issued 2022–2024, counting payments and balances in the records the City produced in December 2025. Balances on recent tickets can still change. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• The 10 costliest ticket types account for $379.7 million a year, 88% of everything billed.#
  Source

  Yearly average of tickets issued 2022–2024, counting payments and balances in the records the City produced in December 2025. Balances on recent tickets can still change. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).

• 18% of paid Chicago tickets that could double were paid at the doubled price: 1,682,488 of 9,333,974.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2022–2024, payments in the records the City produced in December 2025. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• On Chicago tickets that can double, the average fine was $68; doubled, it averaged $131.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2022–2024. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• Chicago booted an average of 48,537 vehicles a year.#
  Source

  Yearly average, 2022–2024, complete years. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Boot counts and boot, tow and storage fee payments, 2018–2025 (FOIA F120036-111425).
• Boot, tow and storage fees averaged $134 per boot, not counting the unpaid tickets that led to it.#
  Source

  Fees paid in 2022–2024 divided by boots in 2022–2024. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Boot counts and boot, tow and storage fee payments, 2018–2025 (FOIA F120036-111425).
• Chicago can boot a vehicle with 3 or more unpaid tickets that have reached a final determination, or 2 that are more than a year old.#
  Source

  Ordinance in effect as of this update. Source: City of Chicago, Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-100-120.

• 94% of Chicago parking tickets are never contested: only 417,495 of the 7,234,272 non-camera tickets issued in 2022–2024 had a hearing.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2022–2024; hearing records through the City’s November 6, 2025 export. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325); City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).
• 98.9% of Chicago red-light and speed camera tickets are never contested.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2022–2024; hearing records through the City’s November 6, 2025 export. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325); City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).
• Across every Chicago ticket type, cameras included, 96.8% of tickets are never contested.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2022–2024; hearing records through the City’s November 6, 2025 export. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325); City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).

• 59% of Chicago tickets contested by mail were dismissed: 185,170 of 316,144 decided cases.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2023–2025 with a Liable or Not Liable decision in the City’s November 6, 2025 hearings export. 2025 tickets decided after that date are not included. Source: City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).
• In-person hearings on Chicago tickets ended in dismissal 67% of the time (81,788 of 122,087).#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2023–2025 with a Liable or Not Liable decision in the City’s November 6, 2025 hearings export. 2025 tickets decided after that date are not included. Source: City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).
• Video hearings ended in dismissal the same 67% of the time (27,318 of 40,660).#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2023–2025 with a Liable or Not Liable decision in the City’s November 6, 2025 hearings export. 2025 tickets decided after that date are not included. Source: City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).
• The most common reason a mailed expired-plate contest was dismissed was “Affirmative Compliance Defense,” recorded 26,774 times.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2023–2025 with a Liable or Not Liable decision in the City’s November 6, 2025 hearings export. 2025 tickets decided after that date are not included. Source: City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).
• The same reason led for mailed city-sticker contests, recorded 14,051 times.#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2023–2025 with a Liable or Not Liable decision in the City’s November 6, 2025 hearings export. 2025 tickets decided after that date are not included. Source: City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).
• 23% of lost mailed city-sticker contests (1,237 of 5,483) were recorded as “Failed to Select one of the Codified Defenses.”#
  Source

  Tickets issued 2023–2025 with a Liable or Not Liable decision in the City’s November 6, 2025 hearings export. 2025 tickets decided after that date are not included. Source: City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325).

Drivers choose how to contest, and people with stronger cases may be more likely to show up to a hearing. The gap between methods does not show that a hearing would win any given ticket. The City records online (eContest) contests as mail.

• Chicago wrote 345,562 street cleaning tickets in 2024.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2024, complete. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• The fine for a Chicago street cleaning ticket is $60, and it doubles to $120 if it goes unpaid.#
  Source

  2,334,867 of the 2,336,517 street cleaning tickets issued 2018–2025 carried that fine; the rest were billed $30 or $50. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325); City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for tickets issued 2018 and 2025 (FOIA F129773-022626).
• 22.1% of 2024 street cleaning tickets (76,236) were still unpaid, in the City’s notice stage.#
  Source

  Tickets issued in 2024; status in the records the City produced in December 2025. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• 7.9% of 2024 street cleaning tickets were dismissed.#
  Source

  Tickets issued in 2024; status in the records the City produced in December 2025. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• Drivers had paid $16.8M on 2024 street cleaning tickets, and $10.1M was still owed, late penalties included.#
  Source

  Tickets issued in 2024; payments and balances in the records the City produced in December 2025. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325).
• Ward 1 got more street cleaning tickets than any other Chicago ward in 2024: 12,180.#
  Source

  Calendar year 2024. The City’s ward table totals 20 fewer tickets than its ticket-level records. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for tickets issued 2018 and 2025 (FOIA F129773-022626).

• A University of Illinois Chicago study found 475,106 Chicago parking tickets, 13.2% or more than 1 in 8, were issued in error.#
  Source

  Tickets issued Aug 2012 – May 2018. The university’s analysis, not ours. Source: University of Illinois Chicago, Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, “475,106 Mistakes: The Cost of Erroneous Parking Tickets,” May 10, 2022.

• These statistics draw on 35,734,751 Chicago ticket records, every ticket issued from January 2018 through December 2025.#
  Source

  Counted 2026-09-16. Source: City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019–2024 (FOIA F118906-110325); City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for tickets issued 2018 and 2025 (FOIA F129773-022626); City of Chicago Department of Finance, Ticket-level records for every ticket issued 2019 to date (FOIA F145741-071626).
• They also draw on 3,066,667 Chicago contest-hearing records.#
  Source

  Hearings on tickets issued 2012 through the November 6, 2025 export. Counted 2026-09-16. Source: City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes, 2019 through the November 6, 2025 export (FOIA H118909-110325); City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Hearing outcomes for tickets issued 2012–2018 (FOIA H150277-083126).