I was always under the assumption that the Outfit's definition of "made" was held to a higher standard than other families, hence their low numbers. I think if they made guys of the same quality and at the same rate as the New York families they would have around 40-50 made guys. Even at the height of their power they didn't seem to have membership rolls proportional to their family's strength.
Even with that relatively "higher standard," the 25-30 made members and a little over 100 associates shows the Outfit has about the same amount of manpower as New England or Philadelphia. It's not like they've chosen to only make a small amount of guys but still have hundreds or thousands of other guys available. Don't discount general attrition, which has affected Chicago like everyone else.
