Restaurants and food trucks.
DuPage County food-facility health permits run about $305–$1,092 annually, depending on size or sales volume. Plan review runs about $273–$1,092. Confirm the exact amount with DuPage County Health Department before you budget.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when DuPage County Health Department issues the health permit.
Cities with their own health department: Naperville, Wheaton, Aurora, Elmhurst, Downers Grove, Lombard, Carol Stream, Bolingbrook. Food businesses inside these cities apply to the city health department (with its own fees and rules), not DuPage County. Confirm which authority covers your exact address.
What the local foodservice landscape looks like — useful whether you’re opening here or sizing up the competition.
▲ 3.0% change in establishments since 2022 (2,176 → 2,242).
The average foodservice wage here is $1,373 above the Illinois average ($25,407); Illinois has about 28,496 food & drink establishments statewide.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 722, food services & drinking places) — establishments with paid employees. Some small-county payroll figures are withheld by Census for confidentiality.
Risk type set by menu/food-handling complexity; Fees effective Dec 1, 2025, adjusted annually by CPI; Cottage food registration $50; follow-up inspection $69
Turnaround: Up to 20 business days for initial plan review; up to 10 business days for revision review
Illinois Food Code risk-based inspection; result recorded as Pass, Pass with Conditions, or Fail (no score/letter grade). County health dept posts inspection reports online.
Mobile vendor plan review ($273) required; Temporary food permits (per event) $82-$268 by risk
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
The government permit & plan-review fees below total roughly $783–$2,731 for DuPage County:
That’s the paperwork only. Add buildout, equipment, deposits and licenses with the cost-to-open calculator. Fees change — confirm current amounts with the department.
Comparison uses the lowest published annual restaurant-permit figure in each county; confirm your exact tier with the department.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
Plus building, fire, and business-license fees that vary locally — use the cost calculators and the checklist below to budget the full stack.
A code-compliant kitchen in DuPage County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
Under Illinois Plumbing Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890, IDPH), food establishments here must control fats, oils & grease (FOG) with a grease interceptor or trap, and typically register with the local sewer/wastewater authority. Grease interceptors are required under the Illinois Plumbing Code, with FOG limits enforced by the local sewer district.
Size the interceptor with our grease-trap sizing calculator, compare units in the grease-trap catalog, and confirm the local FOG permit with DuPage County Health Department (contact above).
Hood fire suppression (NFPA 101 Life Safety Code (2015 ed.)): commercial cooking under a Type I hood needs a wet-chemical suppression system to NFPA 96, permitted and inspected by the local fire marshal. Commercial kitchen hood suppression follows NFPA 96, with the Illinois State Fire Marshal enforcing the Life Safety Code statewide and local fire departments inspecting. See do I need a hood? and the hood CFM calculator.
Backflow prevention: Restaurants must install a testable backflow preventer (typically an RPZ) that is tested annually and reported to the local water utility. A certified backflow assembly (often an RPZ) on the water service, tested annually, is standard — confirm with your water utility.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Seasonal Food Service (six months or less) | $305 | Annual permit for operations running 6 months or less |
| Temporary Food Permit | $268 high risk / $165 medium / $82 low | Per event, risk-tiered (Type 1T/2T/3T); valid up to 14 dates, max two permits/28 dates per year |
| Multi-Location Temporary Food Permit | $1,195 high risk / $684 medium / $376 low | For vendors operating at multiple sites |
| School Food Service | $1,092 Category I / $684 Category II | Annual school food permit |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare DuPage County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →