Salaries

Salaries in Chicago.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 1.07x national average. Last updated August 2026.

3,445 roles tracked
Get your playbook.

Highest Paying

$360,000

Chief Security Officer

Median of All Roles

$148,000

E-commerce Backend Engineer

Entry Level

$35,000

Hotel Clerk / Front Desk

The salary figures on this page are computed estimates, not observed wages. Each one is a national role baseline scaled by a Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity cost-of-living multiplier (2025 index) and rounded to the nearest $1,000. No published wage percentile is consulted and no wage survey response enters the calculation, so an Orbyt estimate must not be cited as a Bureau of Labor Statistics figure or as measured pay. The published wage data Orbyt holds is Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and Department of Labor H-1B Labor Condition Application filings, which record a filed minimum visa base wage rather than market pay. Where BLS publishes a wage for the occupation a role maps to, it is shown on that role's page as a separate benchmark, labelled with its occupation code, metro area and the number of employed workers it covers. Last updated August 2026.

Chicago, IL has a cost-of-living index of 1.07x the national average. The highest-paying role is Chief Security Officer at $360,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $148,000. Chicago's economy is anchored by finance, manufacturing, and a rapidly expanding tech sector.

About the Chicago market

Chicago's economy is anchored by finance, manufacturing, and a rapidly expanding tech sector. The city has become a major hub for fintech, enterprise SaaS, and e-commerce. With lower living costs than coastal cities and a deep talent pool from top universities, Chicago offers strong salary to cost of living ratios for professionals across industries.

Financial ServicesManufacturingTechnologyHealthcareTransportation & Logistics

Top 50 salaries in Chicago

#RoleMedianRange
1Chief Security Officer$360,000$280,000 – $468,000
2SVP of Product$357,000$303,000 – $464,000
3Senior VP of Security$356,000$303,000 – $463,000
4SVP of AI Innovation$347,000$294,000 – $450,000
5Senior VP of Product$346,000$270,000 – $449,000
6Chief Science Officer$345,000$269,000 – $448,000
7SVP of Data$343,000$291,000 – $446,000
8SVP of Technology$340,000$288,000 – $441,000
9VP of Cloud$337,000$287,000 – $438,000
10VP of Analytics$337,000$287,000 – $438,000
11VP of Developer Experience$337,000$287,000 – $438,000
12VP of Partner Engineering$337,000$287,000 – $438,000
13VP of Network Engineering$337,000$287,000 – $438,000
14SVP of Engineering$336,000$285,000 – $437,000
15Chief Strategy Officer$335,000$262,000 – $436,000
16VP of Finance$334,000$284,000 – $434,000
17VP of IT$334,000$284,000 – $434,000
18VP of Information Security$334,000$284,000 – $434,000
19VP of Data$334,000$284,000 – $434,000
20SVP of Sales$334,000$260,000 – $434,000
21SVP of Finance$333,000$283,000 – $433,000
22VP of Engineering$331,000$282,000 – $430,000
23VP of Data Engineering$331,000$282,000 – $430,000
24VP of Security$331,000$282,000 – $430,000
25Chief Legal Officer$331,000$258,000 – $430,000
26Chief Architect$331,000$281,000 – $430,000
27VP of Solutions Engineering$331,000$282,000 – $430,000
28VP of Quality$331,000$282,000 – $430,000
29VP of Cybersecurity$331,000$282,000 – $430,000
30Senior VP of Design$328,000$257,000 – $427,000
31VP of Data Science$327,000$279,000 – $426,000
32Chief Machine Learning Officer$327,000$255,000 – $426,000
33CTO$327,000$255,000 – $426,000
34VP of Reliability Engineering$327,000$279,000 – $426,000
35Chief AI Officer$325,000$241,000 – $419,000
36Chief Commercial Officer$325,000$253,000 – $423,000
37VP of AI Product$324,000$276,000 – $422,000
38VP of AI Engineering$324,000$276,000 – $422,000
39VP of AI$324,000$276,000 – $422,000
40VP of Infrastructure$324,000$276,000 – $422,000
41VP of Technical Support$324,000$276,000 – $422,000
42VP of AI Research$321,000$273,000 – $417,000
43Senior Head of Product$321,000$251,000 – $418,000
44VP of Mobile$321,000$273,000 – $417,000
45VP of Information Technology$321,000$273,000 – $417,000
46VP of Security Engineering$321,000$273,000 – $417,000
47VP of Site Reliability Engineering$321,000$273,000 – $417,000
48Chief Technology Officer$320,000$237,000 – $419,000
49VP of Platform Engineering$318,000$271,000 – $413,000
50VP of Field Engineering$318,000$271,000 – $413,000

Tax considerations

Illinois has a flat 4.95% state income tax. Chicago does not levy a separate city income tax, making the overall burden moderate compared to coastal metros.

Negotiating in Chicago

Reference the Bay Area or NYC salary band for your role, then negotiate a modest discount. Chicago employers routinely offer 85 to 90% of coastal pay.

Other cities

New YorkSan FranciscoLos AngelesSeattleAustinBostonDenverDallasAtlantaMiamiHoustonPhiladelphia

Related

All RolesInterview PrepResume ScoreJob Search Guide

Know the number. Get the offer.

Orbyt gives you the salary data, interview prep, and pipeline tools to negotiate from a position of strength.

Start