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Jobs in Chicago, IL: pay, hiring and remote work
In Chicago, 55.7% of the 3,854 job postings we track list a pay range, and the median posted pay is $139,000 a year. 11.2% are remote, 10.1% are entry level, and 34.5% have been open for more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $132,000 posted salary in the Chicago area buys about what $127,500 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 4% above the national average.
- 46.2% of open job postings list a pay range, 14th of 99 metro areas.
- 8.2% of postings are remote, 12th highest of 99 metro areas.
- The unemployment rate is 5.2%, 1.1 points above the median of the metro areas in this report.
- Posted pay for software developers is 42.9% above the official median wage for software developers in the same metro area.
IL requires employers to include a pay range in job postings (since 2025).
Chicago is part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area, with suburbs and nearby towns broken out.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 5.2% in 2026-08 (4.5% a year earlier) (BLS, not seasonally adjusted). Across Illinois, employers had 211,000 job openings in 2025-12, an openings rate of 3.3% (BLS JOLTS). Indeed's own measure of job postings in the metro area is 13.6% below its February 2020 level and 3.2% higher than a year ago (Indeed Hiring Lab, 2026-10-02).
Posted pay vs official wages
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Closest official occupation | Official median wage (BLS, May 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $192,000 80 postings | software developers | $134,500 |
| People and recruiting | $121,500 26 postings | human resources specialists | $78,000 |
| Accountants | $99,000 19 postings | accountants and auditors | $82,500 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area. Posted pay is the middle of the ranges in open postings, so the two measure different things: pay for open jobs versus pay for everyone already employed.
Posted pay by kind of job in Chicago
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and clinical care | $197,500 | 18 |
| Software developers | $192,000 | 80 |
| Software engineering | $185,500 | 51 |
| Legal and compliance | $185,000 | 68 |
| Security and IT | $162,500 | 25 |
| Product and design | $147,500 | 62 |
| Data and analytics | $140,000 | 41 |
| Finance and accounting | $140,000 | 55 |
| Sales | $135,000 | 273 |
| Marketing | $132,500 | 99 |
| People and recruiting | $121,500 | 26 |
| Operations and logistics | $115,000 | 97 |
| Engineering (other) | $115,000 | 33 |
| Customer support and success | $105,000 | 49 |
| Accountants | $99,000 | 19 |
Kinds of job are grouped by title wording. Pay is the midpoint of the range in the posting, annualized for hourly postings.
Who is hiring, by industry
| Industry | Postings |
|---|---|
| Software & Technology | 909 |
| Financial Services | 845 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 450 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 386 |
| Other | 265 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 244 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 190 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 168 |
| Media & Entertainment | 151 |
| Energy & Utilities | 84 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 69 |
| Education | 42 |
| Insurance | 38 |
Employers with the most openings
- Ntrs: 193 postings
- DoorDash USA: 98 postings
- Stripe: 64 postings
- Okta: 62 postings
- Braze: 60 postings
What applications ask in Chicago
Among 948 application forms we read: 29.1% ask applicants for a salary expectation, 84.3% ask about visa sponsorship, 54.2% include the equal-opportunity section, and 9.4% carry an AI-use notice. Question wording only; no applicant answers are ever collected.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area run 4% above the national average, and housing runs 12% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $54,500, which is worth $53,000 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $132,000 is worth $127,500.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 46.2% | $132,000 | $54,500 | 103.6 | $53,000 |
| Dallas | 26.1% | $132,000 | $51,500 | 103.1 | $50,000 |
| Houston | 17.5% | $127,500 | $49,500 | 98.6 | $50,000 |
| Los Angeles | 62.4% | $157,500 | $56,000 | 113.6 | $49,000 |
| Washington | 61.2% | $156,500 | $71,000 | 108.9 | $65,500 |
| Philadelphia | 28.4% | $111,500 | $54,500 | 102.6 | $53,000 |
| Atlanta | 25.9% | $134,500 | $51,000 | 100.1 | $51,000 |
Compare any metro areas side by side
Download this data
Free to use with credit: Second Summit, October 2026. Data (CSV) · Data (JSON) · paycheck power chart (SVG) · posted vs official chart (SVG) · prices chart (SVG) · industries chart (SVG) · biggest jobs chart (SVG)
Related pages
- Metro area: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
- State: Illinois
- Compare the metro area with others
Where its metro area ranks
Postings that list several cities count in each one. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in Chicago. Methodology · All cities (CSV)
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