Accounting Internships in Chicago 2027: Firms, Pay and How to Apply

Chicago is one of the deepest accounting internship markets in the country for a simple reason: it's the headquarters city for three of the largest national accounting firms in the US, on top of large local offices for all four Big 4 firms. Grant Thornton, BDO USA and RSM US are all based in downtown Chicago, which means the city has recruiting depth most metros outside New York don't.

That combination matters for where you apply, not just how many firms are hiring. A headquarters office tends to run more service lines and sit closer to a firm's national training and leadership programs than a satellite office does, even though the actual internship work looks similar city to city.

Chicago's accounting firm landscape

Does headquarters city actually matter for an intern?

A little, and mostly at the margins. Headquarters offices are typically larger, cover more service lines and sit physically closer to a firm's national leadership and training functions than a regional office does. None of that changes the substance of a first-year internship much: you're still on an engagement team learning the same audit or tax fundamentals as an intern anywhere else at the firm.

Where it can matter more is internal mobility and visibility. If you eventually want a rotation into a national practice group or a corporate role at the firm level, starting in the headquarters city is a reasonable, if minor, advantage. It's a tiebreaker between offices of the same firm, not a reason to skip a strong opportunity somewhere else.

What accounting interns get paid in Chicago

Pay in Chicago tracks the national pattern for public accounting: commonly $25 to $35 an hour at Big 4 and large national firms, and the low-to-mid $20s at regional firms. Chicago's cost of living runs noticeably below coastal hub cities like New York or Los Angeles, so a given hourly rate tends to go further there than the same number would on either coast.

How to actually get one

Recruiting for Chicago-based firms runs through the same campus channels as everywhere else in public accounting: Meet the Firms nights, your school's accounting society or Beta Alpha Psi chapter, and a direct relationship with the campus recruiter. If Grant Thornton, BDO or RSM recruit at your school, treat their events as seriously as Big 4 events. Headquarters-adjacent recruiting teams often have real influence over who gets a first-round interview.

Illinois schools like the University of Illinois, DePaul and Loyola feed the Chicago offices of all three headquartered firms heavily, and campus recruiters there know exactly which student organizations and events to watch. If you're outside that pipeline, a well-targeted cold application plus attending any public recruiting event a firm runs near your school still works, it just takes more initiative on your end to get noticed.

Why three headquartered firms in one city matters

Most students only think about Big 4 firms when they think about public accounting, largely because Big 4 marketing budgets and campus presence dwarf everyone else's. Grant Thornton, BDO and RSM are each large enough to offer the same core internship experience, audit or tax exposure, real client work, a path to a full-time offer, without the same interview volume the Big 4 sees at every school.

That makes Chicago a genuinely good market for a student who wants a strong public accounting internship without competing in the largest applicant pools in the country. Apply to all three headquartered firms alongside the Big 4 rather than treating them as a fallback option.

For the national timeline and pay picture across every firm type, see our accounting internships 2027 guide. If you're also considering Houston, our Houston accounting internships guide covers a market built around energy-sector corporate accounting instead.