US Business Licenses Scraper: Names, Addresses & License Types

Here is one real result, with every field the actor returns (contact-enrichment add-on off):

{
  "legalName": "ARMITAGE MARKET INC.",
  "doingBusinessAsName": "KOSTNER MARKET",
  "licenseNumber": "3091275",
  "licenseId": "3091275",
  "accountNumber": "528819",
  "siteNumber": "1",
  "licenseCode": "1006",
  "licenseDescription": "Retail Food Establishment",
  "businessActivity": "Operation of a Deli, Butcher or Bakery | Preparation of Food, Coffee or Drinks | Retail Sales of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (Leafy and Non Leafy Vegetables) | Retail Sales of General Merchandise and Non-Perishable Food | Retail Sales of Perishable Foods",
  "businessActivityId": "640 | 736 | 766 | 767 | 775",
  "applicationType": "ISSUE",
  "licenseStatus": "AAI",
  "licenseStatusLabel": "Issued / active",
  "conditionalApproval": "N",
  "addressStreet": "4401 W ARMITAGE AVE",
  "city": "CHICAGO",
  "state": "IL",
  "zipCode": "60639",
  "ward": "26",
  "precinct": "12",
  "wardPrecinct": "26-12",
  "policeDistrict": "25",
  "communityArea": "20",
  "communityAreaName": "HERMOSA",
  "neighborhood": "HERMOSA",
  "specialServiceArea": null,
  "latitude": 41.9169344398,
  "longitude": -87.7363871475,
  "applicationCreatedDate": "2026-07-09",
  "applicationRequirementsComplete": "2026-07-17",
  "paymentDate": "2026-07-17",
  "licenseStartDate": "2026-08-04",
  "expirationDate": "2028-08-15",
  "licenseApprovedForIssuance": "2026-08-03",
  "dateIssued": "2026-08-04",
  "recordId": "3091275-20260804",
  "source": "Chicago Business Licenses",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-10T14:41:51.258Z",
  "error": null
}

The most complete US business licenses scraper available. It returns every field the source license register exposes for each business, including legal and DBA names, license type and status, full address with ward and community area, geocoordinates, and every application and issuance date, plus an optional contact-enrichment add-on, and gives you four filters to target exactly the licenses you need.

📥 Input · 📤 Output · 💰 Pricing · ▶️ Examples

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quickstart
• Input reference
• Output reference
• Example output record
• Run via API and CLI
• Fetch results
• Billing and limits
• FAQ and troubleshooting

What it does

The actor searches the City of Chicago business license register, applies the filters you pass as input, and writes one normalized record per license to the run's dataset. Each record includes legal and doing-business-as names, license number and type, status, full business address with ward, precinct, police district and community area, latitude and longitude, and the full set of application and issuance dates. Missing source values are returned as null, never invented. An optional paid contact-enrichment add-on tries to find a public business email and contact name for each result.

Data currently covers the City of Chicago business license dataset. Search by business name or keyword, then filter by city, license type, and status.

Quickstart

Open the actor, paste this into the input, and press Run. It returns 10 license records matching "coffee".

{
  "searchQueries": ["coffee"],
  "status": "any",
  "maxLicenses": 10,
  "enrichContacts": false
}

Leave searchQueries empty to pull the newest licenses matching the other filters. Every input field is optional.

Input reference

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
searchQueries	string[]	no	["coffee"]	Business names or keywords to search, one search per entry. Leave empty to pull the newest licenses matching the filters.
cities	string[]	no	(any)	Keep only licenses whose business address city matches one of these, for example CHICAGO. Case-insensitive.
licenseTypes	string[]	no	(any)	Keep only licenses whose type/description contains one of these terms, for example Retail Food Establishment, Tavern, Tobacco.
status	enum	no	any	License status: any, active, cancelled, revoked.
maxLicenses	integer	no	10	Maximum license records to collect across the whole run.
enrichContacts	boolean	no	false	Optional paid add-on. For each result without an email, attempt to find a public business contact email and a contact person's name. Billed per attempt, plus an extra charge only when an email is found.
enrichContactsMax	integer	no	50	Cap how many results the add-on tries to enrich. Free Apify accounts are capped at 3.

Filters combine with logical AND. Search terms within searchQueries run as separate searches.

Output reference

One dataset item per license. Types: string, number, or null when the source value is absent.

Field	Type	Description
legalName	string	Legal business name on the license.
doingBusinessAsName	string	Doing-business-as (DBA) name, or null.
licenseNumber	string	License number.
licenseId	string	License ID.
accountNumber	string	Business account number.
siteNumber	string	Site number for multi-location businesses.
licenseCode	string	Numeric license code.
licenseDescription	string	License type description, for example Retail Food Establishment.
businessActivity	string	Pipe-separated list of permitted business activities.
businessActivityId	string	Pipe-separated activity ID codes.
applicationType	string	Application type, for example ISSUE, RENEW, C_LOC.
licenseStatus	string	Raw status code, for example AAI.
licenseStatusLabel	string	Human-readable status, for example Issued / active.
conditionalApproval	string	Y or N conditional-approval flag.
addressStreet	string	Business street address.
city	string	City.
state	string	Two-letter state code.
zipCode	string	Postal code.
ward	string	City ward number.
precinct	string	Precinct number.
wardPrecinct	string	Combined ward-precinct.
policeDistrict	string	Police district.
communityArea	string	Community area number.
communityAreaName	string	Community area name.
neighborhood	string	Neighborhood name.
specialServiceArea	string	Special service area, or null.
latitude	number	Latitude of the business address.
longitude	number	Longitude of the business address.
applicationCreatedDate	string	Date the application was created (YYYY-MM-DD).
applicationRequirementsComplete	string	Date requirements were completed.
paymentDate	string	Payment date.
licenseStartDate	string	License term start date.
expirationDate	string	License expiration date.
licenseApprovedForIssuance	string	Date approved for issuance.
dateIssued	string	Date the license was issued.
recordId	string	Unique record ID.
source	string	Source label, Chicago Business Licenses.
observedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the record was collected.
enrichedEmail	string	(add-on) Public business contact email, or null.
enrichedContactName	string	(add-on) Contact person name, or null.
enrichedJobTitle	string	(add-on) Contact job title, or null.
enrichedEmailStatus	string	(add-on) Verification status of the found email.
enrichedSource	string	(add-on) Where the contact was found.
enrichedConfidence	number	(add-on) Confidence score for the found contact.
error	string	null on success. On a failed run, a single item with a populated error field is written instead.

Example output record

Real record from a live run (input {"searchQueries":["coffee"],"status":"any","maxLicenses":10}):

{
  "legalName": "ARMITAGE MARKET INC.",
  "doingBusinessAsName": "KOSTNER MARKET",
  "licenseNumber": "3091275",
  "licenseDescription": "Retail Food Establishment",
  "businessActivity": "Operation of a Deli, Butcher or Bakery | Preparation of Food, Coffee or Drinks | Retail Sales of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (Leafy and Non Leafy Vegetables) | Retail Sales of General Merchandise and Non-Perishable Food | Retail Sales of Perishable Foods",
  "applicationType": "ISSUE",
  "licenseStatus": "AAI",
  "licenseStatusLabel": "Issued / active",
  "addressStreet": "4401 W ARMITAGE AVE",
  "city": "CHICAGO",
  "state": "IL",
  "zipCode": "60639",
  "ward": "26",
  "communityAreaName": "HERMOSA",
  "latitude": 41.9169344398,
  "longitude": -87.7363871475,
  "licenseStartDate": "2026-08-04",
  "expirationDate": "2028-08-15",
  "dateIssued": "2026-08-04",
  "recordId": "3091275-20260804",
  "source": "Chicago Business Licenses",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-10T14:41:51.258Z",
  "error": null
}

Run via API and CLI

Start a run and wait for it to finish, then read the dataset. Replace <TOKEN> with your Apify API token.

Run synchronously and get dataset items in one call:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~usa-business-licenses-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQueries":["tavern"],"cities":["CHICAGO"],"status":"active","maxLicenses":50}'

Start a run asynchronously:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~usa-business-licenses-scraper/runs?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"licenseTypes":["Tobacco"],"maxLicenses":200,"enrichContacts":true,"enrichContactsMax":50}'

Apify CLI:

apify call scrapers_lat/usa-business-licenses-scraper \
  --input '{"searchQueries":["coffee"],"status":"active"}'

Fetch results

Every run writes to a dataset. Fetch items as JSON, CSV, or Excel by changing format:

# JSON
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=json"

# CSV
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=csv"

# Paginate large datasets
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&offset=1000&limit=1000"

<DATASET_ID> is returned as defaultDatasetId in the run object. Use offset and limit to page through large result sets. clean=true drops empty and internal fields.

Billing and limits

• Pay per result. You are charged per license record returned (result event). See the pricing tab for the current per-result price.
• No charge on failure. If a run errors, the actor writes a single item with a populated error field and does not charge for it. Empty runs cost nothing.
• Contact enrichment add-on. When enrichContacts is on, each attempt is billed, plus an extra charge only when an email is actually found. Free Apify accounts are capped at 3 enrichment attempts per run.
• Spend cap respected. Set maxTotalChargeUsd on the run; once reached, the actor stops emitting and charging further billable results.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 10 records per run. Upgrade for higher maxLicenses.

FAQ and troubleshooting

A run returned 0 records. Why? The filter combination matched nothing. Loosen licenseTypes/cities/status or change the keyword. Zero-result runs are not charged.

How do I get a business email and contact name? Turn on enrichContacts. The add-on tries to find a public business email and contact for each result. Use enrichContactsMax to control cost.

How do I get only active licenses? Set status to active. Use cancelled or revoked to isolate those.

Why is doingBusinessAsName or specialServiceArea null? The source record did not include that value. Missing source values are returned as null.

Which area is covered? The actor currently reads the City of Chicago business license register. Records include Chicago-specific fields like ward, communityArea, and policeDistrict.

Is this an official government tool? No. This actor is independent and has no affiliation with the City of Chicago. It reads only publicly available license data.

Related scrapers

• US Contractor Licenses Scraper: US contractor and trade license records.
• US Liquor Licenses Scraper: US liquor and alcohol license records.
• US Medical Licenses Scraper: US medical professional licenses.
• US FCC License Scraper: FCC radio and wireless licenses.
• Chicago Building Permits Scraper: City of Chicago building permits.
• Google Maps Business Leads Scraper: Local business leads with contact details.

More scrapers at scrapers.lat

Built and maintained by scrapers.lat, where we publish scrapers for US and Latin American public platforms: company registries, government data, finance, e-commerce and more. Browse the catalog or request a custom scraper at scrapers.lat.

---

Independent tool, not affiliated with the City of Chicago. Accesses only publicly available business license data.