Chicago Ticket Revenue by Violation
Source: City of Chicago ticket data (FOIA), 35.7M tickets, by year issued. Each percentage below is a violation's share of all ticket revenue that year — not of the top 10.
What the city billed — face-value fines plus the doubling late-fee penalty on tickets that escalated. Most billed dollars are never collected, so this is the bigger number.
Total issued
$426,029,990
5,246,241 tickets issued
Tickets (base fines)
$319,383,585
75.0% of total
Late fees
$106,646,405
25.0% of total
Top 10 violations
85.3%
of all revenue
Top 10 violations by revenue — 2025
| # | Violation | Tickets | Base fines | Late fees | Total | % of all revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red light camera | 493,218 | $49,321,800 | $23,704,600 | $73,026,400 | 17.1% |
| 2 | Speed camera (6–10 mph over) | 1,415,295 | $49,535,325 | $16,027,620 | $65,562,945 | 15.4% |
| 3 | No city sticker | 180,441 | $36,088,200 | $4,905,750 | $40,993,950 | 9.6% |
| 4 | Expired plate / temp registration | 443,272 | $26,596,320 | $11,647,500 | $38,243,820 | 9.0% |
| 5 | Speed camera (11+ mph over) | 258,080 | $25,808,000 | $10,718,200 | $36,526,200 | 8.6% |
| 6 | Expired meter (non-downtown) | 520,636 | $26,031,800 | $7,465,600 | $33,497,400 | 7.9% |
| 7 | Street cleaning | 323,144 | $19,388,630 | $6,224,330 | $25,612,960 | 6.0% |
| 8 | Parking prohibited (anytime) | 174,360 | $13,077,000 | $4,632,975 | $17,709,975 | 4.2% |
| 9 | Residential permit parking | 168,499 | $12,637,425 | $4,199,850 | $16,837,275 | 4.0% |
| 10 | Expired meter (downtown) | 166,895 | $11,682,650 | $3,836,280 | $15,518,930 | 3.6% |
| All violations (2025) | 5,246,241 | $319,383,585 | $106,646,405 | $426,029,990 | 100% | |
| + Boot / collection / interest fees † | $20,318,115 | |||||
| − Tickets dismissed / reduced † | −$26,653,554 | |||||
| = Actually billed (on the city's books) † | $419,694,551 |
Citywide totals by year (issued)
| Year | Tickets | Base fines | Late fees | Total issued | Boot/coll/int † | Actually billed † | Late-fee share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5,310,458 | $294,294,948 | $106,572,530 | $400,867,478 | $29,843,068 | $404,702,907 | 26.6% |
| 2022 | 5,460,378 | $319,979,584 | $116,496,490 | $436,476,074 | $32,564,847 | $438,812,048 | 26.7% |
| 2023 | 5,127,158 | $317,121,958 | $112,607,105 | $429,729,063 | $31,540,228 | $429,268,382 | 26.2% |
| 2024 | 5,021,540 | $315,321,730 | $109,650,795 | $424,972,525 | $27,817,212 | $419,155,104 | 25.8% |
| 2025 | 5,246,241 | $319,383,585 | $106,646,405 | $426,029,990 | $20,318,115 | $419,694,551 | 25.0% |
Total revenue by violation (incl. late fees) — 2021→2025
| Violation | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red light camera | $92.5M | $94.1M | $102.0M | $78.0M | $73.0M |
| Speed camera (6–10 mph over) | $76.7M | $75.6M | $63.5M | $54.3M | $65.6M |
| No city sticker | $26.8M | $33.9M | $37.2M | $41.2M | $41.0M |
| Expired plate / temp registration | $28.8M | $42.6M | $31.7M | $47.2M | $38.2M |
| Speed camera (11+ mph over) | $49.7M | $42.1M | $33.7M | $29.1M | $36.5M |
| Expired meter (non-downtown) | $20.6M | $29.7M | $32.8M | $34.7M | $33.5M |
| Street cleaning | $25.1M | $25.0M | $24.6M | $27.1M | $25.6M |
| Parking prohibited (anytime) | $9.6M | $11.8M | $14.0M | $16.8M | $17.7M |
| Residential permit parking | $10.9M | $13.8M | $16.0M | $17.2M | $16.8M |
| Expired meter (downtown) | $14.4M | $17.6M | $20.8M | $21.2M | $15.5M |
| No standing / time restricted | $10.0M | $10.9M | $11.1M | $11.3M | $11.4M |
| Missing / noncompliant plate | $7.0M | $8.9M | $9.8M | $10.1M | $10.8M |
| Within 15ft of fire hydrant | $7.1M | $7.8M | $7.7M | $8.6M | $9.7M |
Base fines only (the ticket itself) — 2021→2025
| Violation | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red light camera | $63.1M | $63.6M | $68.7M | $52.1M | $49.3M |
| Speed camera (6–10 mph over) | $56.5M | $55.5M | $46.5M | $39.4M | $49.5M |
| No city sticker | $23.7M | $29.9M | $32.7M | $36.4M | $36.1M |
| Expired plate / temp registration | $20.9M | $29.3M | $21.4M | $32.9M | $26.6M |
| Speed camera (11+ mph over) | $33.7M | $28.8M | $23.0M | $19.6M | $25.8M |
| Expired meter (non-downtown) | $16.5M | $23.3M | $25.7M | $27.1M | $26.0M |
| Street cleaning | $19.6M | $19.3M | $19.0M | $20.7M | $19.4M |
| Parking prohibited (anytime) | $7.2M | $8.8M | $10.5M | $12.5M | $13.1M |
| Residential permit parking | $8.4M | $10.5M | $12.1M | $13.0M | $12.6M |
| Expired meter (downtown) | $11.1M | $13.3M | $15.8M | $16.0M | $11.7M |
| No standing / time restricted | $7.6M | $8.2M | $8.4M | $8.5M | $8.6M |
| Missing / noncompliant plate | $5.1M | $6.5M | $7.3M | $7.6M | $8.0M |
| Within 15ft of fire hydrant | $4.9M | $5.6M | $6.0M | $6.8M | $7.6M |
Late fees only — 2021→2025
| Violation | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red light camera | $29.4M | $30.5M | $33.3M | $26.0M | $23.7M |
| Speed camera (6–10 mph over) | $20.2M | $20.1M | $17.0M | $15.0M | $16.0M |
| No city sticker | $3.1M | $4.0M | $4.5M | $4.8M | $4.9M |
| Expired plate / temp registration | $8.0M | $13.3M | $10.4M | $14.4M | $11.6M |
| Speed camera (11+ mph over) | $15.9M | $13.3M | $10.7M | $9.5M | $10.7M |
| Expired meter (non-downtown) | $4.1M | $6.3M | $7.1M | $7.7M | $7.5M |
| Street cleaning | $5.6M | $5.7M | $5.7M | $6.3M | $6.2M |
| Parking prohibited (anytime) | $2.4M | $3.0M | $3.5M | $4.3M | $4.6M |
| Residential permit parking | $2.5M | $3.3M | $3.9M | $4.2M | $4.2M |
| Expired meter (downtown) | $3.3M | $4.3M | $5.0M | $5.1M | $3.8M |
| No standing / time restricted | $2.4M | $2.7M | $2.7M | $2.8M | $2.9M |
| Missing / noncompliant plate | $1.8M | $2.4M | $2.5M | $2.6M | $2.8M |
| Within 15ft of fire hydrant | $2.1M | $2.2M | $1.7M | $1.9M | $2.1M |
Methodology. Tickets are bucketed by the year issued. Percentages are each violation's share of all ticket revenue that year (the rows shown are just the top 10; they sum to less than 100%). Issued = what the city billed: base fine (DOF level 1) + the doubling penalty (level 2 − level 1) on tickets that escalated to a Final Notice or Seizure stage (~99.9% of doubled tickets). Collected = cash actually paid: base = dollars up to the original fine, late fees = dollars paid above it. † Estimated. Boot / collection / interest fees = dollars booked above the doubled fine (payments + amount due − fine level 2); an estimate, since the city does not tag each add-on separately. Actually billed = what sits on the city's books today (payments + amount still due). It is lower than face value because dismissed and reduced tickets fall off, so: face value + boot fees − dismissals = actually billed. Two figures people mix up: “top 10 = ~85%” is how concentrated revenue is among violation types — unrelated to how much of the ticket burden Autopilot helps a driver avoid. And the late-fee rate is ~25% counting the doubling penalty alone, or ~33% counting doubling + boot/collection/interest as a share of all dollars billed — same data, different definition. Source: City of Chicago ticket data via FOIA (35.7M tickets, 2018–2025).