The Chicago 10x20 Rental, End to End
Chicago's McCormick Place is the largest convention venue in North America, and Chicago's labor and freight rules are among the most exacting. Getting a booth on the floor cleanly here means understanding the steward system, the marshaling yard rules, and McCormick's specific drayage tiers. For exhibitors at shows like IMTS, Pack Expo, RSNA, and the NRA Show, a 10x20 booth at 200 square feet is a workable footprint. Pricing in Chicago typically runs $21,100–$32,600 per show on a fully turnkey basis, with McCormick Place drayage tiers and four-union coordination setting the range. In practice this means McCormick's drayage tier, steward sign-offs at each install phase, and the hall-specific electrical and rigging submission windows all affect the final number. None of this is unusual, it's just Chicago, and it's why a 10x20 here costs more than the equivalent in Vegas.
Exhibit Rentals operates from a warehouse in Las Vegas. We ship from our Las Vegas warehouse with 5–7 day transit to McCormick Place. Every booth in our 10x20 inventory is fully pre-assembled and inspected at our facility before it ships to Chicago — so the install at McCormick Place and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center is replication of an approved build, not first-time assembly on the show floor. For markets like Chicago where freight distance and labor rules add risk, the warehouse pre-build is what protects your show date.
Is a 10x20 the Right Size for Your Show?
The 10x20 booth works best for a few specific kinds of exhibitor:
- Growing brands stepping up from a 10x10 after 1–2 successful shows
- Companies launching a new product alongside an existing line
- Exhibitors needing two distinct demo stations or a meeting zone
- Teams of 3–5 booth staff who need physical separation to work simultaneously
If you need a fully enclosed private meeting room, theater seating, or more than five staff working simultaneously, you're closer to a 20x20 island in terms of practical needs. Every configuration below ships to Chicago fully pre-built and inspected, so what fits on paper is what arrives at McCormick Place.
Working With 200 Square Feet
Two hundred square feet allows real division of function. A 10x20 typically supports two demo counters, a 55"–65" monitor wall, an enclosed storage and prep area at one end, a meeting-friendly corner for short qualified conversations, and dedicated lead-capture stations. Aisle patterns at McCormick Place reward layouts that read clearly from a distance.
What doesn't fit: a fully enclosed meeting room with door, theater seating, hospitality bar with beverage service. The 10x20 is large enough to feel like more space than a 10x10 but small enough that adding too many functions compresses every one of them. At Chicago shows like IMTS, exhibitors who outgrow the footprint mid-cycle pay for it in redesign, not just rent.
Floor-Plan Choices at 10x20
The 10x20 inline booth gives you 20 linear feet of back wall and two clear engagement zones. The most common split: one side as a passive draw (large brand visual, looping video) and the other as the active demo. Avoid splitting it into two equal halves — visitors won't choose; they'll keep walking. On the McCormick Place floor, footprint decisions are hard to reverse once space is assigned.
Avoid splitting a 10x20 into two equal halves — visitors won't choose between them; they'll keep walking. One side should clearly lead the experience (brand, hero product, large visual), the other should support it (active demo, lead capture, secondary product). Asymmetry beats symmetry on inline booths. For Chicago exhibitors, shows like PACK EXPO set the pace of the calendar.
McCormick Place inline aisles tend to be slightly narrower than LVCC, and IMTS and Pack Expo traffic is heavier than tech shows because attendees are stopping to inspect equipment. A 10x20 that designs for slow walk-by inspection outperforms one that designs for fast aisle skim.
Everything Your Quote Covers
Every quote from Exhibit Rentals is turnkey. One number on the proposal covers every line item below — there's no separate drayage invoice, no surprise electrical bill, no post-show reconciliation:
- Photorealistic 3D rendering before approval
- Full pre-build and inspection at our Las Vegas warehouse before shipping to Chicago
- Full graphics production — backlit fabric, direct-print, or tension fabric depending on design
- Round-trip freight from our Las Vegas warehouse to McCormick Place and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (or other Chicago venue)
- Certified installation and dismantling, fully labor-compliant for your venue
- Show services paperwork — EAC filings, Certificate of Insurance, electrical orders, drayage coordination
- One dedicated project manager from kickoff to load-out
What a 10x20 Costs in Chicago
A turnkey 10x20 trade show booth rental in Chicago typically falls between $21,100 and $32,600 per show. Where you land in that range comes down to materials, monitor and AV count, and how much custom architecture you add.
- $21,100–$26,800: Clean professional build with backlit fabric, standard counters, LED lighting. Right for brands stepping up from a 10x10 with a more developed visual program.
- $26,800–$29,700: Adds monitor walls, upgraded lighting, additional counters, larger graphics, additional brand zones. The mid-market sweet spot.
- $29,700–$32,600: Premium materials, architectural ceiling features, integrated tech and premium furnishings.
That works out to roughly $106–$163 per square foot in Chicago. Chicago pricing reflects McCormick Place's specific drayage tier structure and the steward-coordination overhead. Booking 10–12 weeks ahead of major McCormick shows protects pricing, Chicago drayage and electrical rates climb noticeably for late orders.
Getting Into Chicago Venues
McCormick Place enforces the Trade Show Workers Right-to-Work Act — exhibitors have flexibility, but our crews still coordinate with the four house unions (Carpenters, Decorators, Electricians, Riggers) for steward sign-off. A 10x20 inline moves through this as one pre-built, pre-inspected unit.
McCormick Place uses a four-union model (Carpenters, Decorators, Electricians, Riggers) with steward sign-off at each phase. Drayage is tiered by package weight and material handling category — and the rules change periodically. Our project managers coordinate every steward sign-off and confirm drayage tier before crating, so you don't get a surprise material handling invoice after the show. The 10x20 arrives as a single pre-staged inline build, so none of it lands on your team.
Where 10x20 Booths Go Wrong
At 10x20, the usual design errors cost you more. What we see at McCormick Place and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center shows:
- Splitting the booth into two symmetric halves — visitors won't choose between them; they'll keep walking
- Adding too many functions (demo + meeting + hospitality + storage) so each one is undersized
- Designing without a defined visitor journey from aisle to lead capture
- Treating the back wall as decoration rather than as your three-second billboard
- Underestimating staff — a 10x20 typically needs 3–5 people during show hours
- Missing the McCormick electrical-order deadline — late electrical at McCormick is significantly more expensive than on-time orders, and the deadlines are earlier than most exhibitors expect.
Rent or Buy a 10x20?
For exhibitors attending one to three Chicago shows per year, renting almost always beats buying on total cost. A purchased 10x20 runs $34,000–$52,000 upfront, then $2,000–$6,000 per show in storage, refurbishment, and shipping. A rental at $21,100–$32,600 per show eliminates storage, depreciation, and the risk of your exhibit looking dated as your brand evolves. For four or more shows a year with stable branding, the buying math starts to favor purchase — but the one-vendor turnkey model still saves substantial coordination time even then. For Chicago-based exhibitors running shows in both Chicago and Vegas, a rental model often beats purchase outright, the freight savings from owning don't compensate for storage cost in Chicago real estate.
Next Step
Browse the 10x20 design gallery below, or go straight to the quote form for a custom 3D rendering and full price within 24 hours. Every booth carries our warehouse pre-build guarantee and a dedicated project manager from kickoff to load-out at McCormick Place.
