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Jobs in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area: pay, hiring and remote work
The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area has 5,914 open job postings from 845 employers in our data. 46.2% list a pay range, the median posted pay is $132,000 a year, 8.2% are remote and 30.3% have been open 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.
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).
City by city inside the metro area
| Place | Postings | Employers | Pay listed | Median posted pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | 3854 | 679 | 55.7% | $139,000 |
| Downers Grove, IL | 130 | 18 | 28.7% | $107,000 |
| Schaumburg, IL | 110 | 30 | 44.2% | $75,000 |
| Naperville, IL | 69 | 35 | 27.1% | – |
| Aurora, IL | 60 | 22 | 34.5% | – |
| Merrillville, IN | 56 | 9 | n/a | – |
| Lincolnshire, IL | 55 | 7 | 51.1% | $117,500 |
| Orland Park, IL | 50 | 15 | 46.7% | – |
| Deerfield, IL | 50 | 6 | 35.7% | – |
| Oak Brook, IL | 48 | 19 | n/a | – |
| Buffalo Grove, IL | 43 | 7 | n/a | – |
| Joliet, IL | 43 | 15 | 24.2% | – |
| Lake Forest, IL | 42 | 9 | n/a | – |
| Bolingbrook, IL | 40 | 11 | 51.4% | – |
| Hoffman Estates, IL | 35 | 6 | n/a | – |
| Skokie, IL | 31 | 12 | n/a | – |
| Des Plaines, IL | 31 | 9 | n/a | – |
| Gary, IN | 31 | 5 | n/a | – |
| Waukegan, IL | 29 | 5 | n/a | – |
| Elgin, IL | 27 | 9 | n/a | – |
| Evanston, IL | 26 | 8 | 32% | – |
| Lombard, IL | 25 | 7 | 40% | – |
| Palatine, IL | 25 | 8 | n/a | – |
| Lisle, IL | 24 | 7 | n/a | – |
| Arlington Heights, IL | 23 | 10 | n/a | – |
| Rosemont, IL | 23 | 8 | n/a | – |
| St Charles, IL | 22 | 8 | n/a | – |
| Willowbrook, IL | 22 | 3 | n/a | – |
| Bloomingdale, IL | 21 | 5 | n/a | – |
| Dekalb, IL | 21 | 9 | n/a | – |
| Vernon Hills, IL | 21 | 6 | n/a | – |
| Sycamore, IL | 20 | 4 | n/a | – |
| Gurnee, IL | 18 | 6 | 81.8% | – |
| Elmhurst, IL | 17 | 9 | n/a | – |
| Burr Ridge, IL | 16 | 5 | n/a | – |
| Libertyville, IL | 16 | 9 | n/a | – |
| Wheeling, IL | 16 | 7 | n/a | – |
Places with at least 15 postings from 3 employers. Shading shows where median posted pay is higher. Pay figures need 8 postings with pay.
City pages: Chicago.
Posted pay vs official wages
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Closest official occupation | Official median wage (BLS, May 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $192,000 84 postings | software developers | $134,500 |
| People and recruiting | $121,500 28 postings | human resources specialists | $78,000 |
| Accountants | $96,500 22 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
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $192,000 | 84 |
| Software engineering | $183,000 | 52 |
| Legal and compliance | $175,000 | 75 |
| Security and IT | $153,000 | 33 |
| Nursing and clinical care | $151,000 | 38 |
| Product and design | $147,500 | 66 |
| Data and analytics | $140,500 | 44 |
| Finance and accounting | $137,500 | 62 |
| Marketing | $132,500 | 105 |
| Sales | $123,500 | 346 |
| People and recruiting | $121,500 | 28 |
| Engineering (other) | $114,000 | 38 |
| Operations and logistics | $107,500 | 113 |
| Customer support and success | $101,000 | 54 |
| Accountants | $96,500 | 22 |
| Education | $45,000 | 16 |
Who is hiring, by industry
| Industry | Postings |
|---|---|
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 1034 |
| Software & Technology | 1006 |
| Financial Services | 975 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 561 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 476 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 370 |
| Other | 361 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 344 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 266 |
| Media & Entertainment | 190 |
| Energy & Utilities | 174 |
| Education | 79 |
| Insurance | 55 |
| Telecommunications | 16 |
Employers with the most openings
- Ntrs: 203 postings
- Blueskytelepsych: 141 postings
- DoorDash USA: 99 postings
- Meijer: 89 postings
- Arco: 78 postings
Federal government hiring
346 federal job announcements open to the public list Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, with a median posted salary range midpoint of $93,500. Agencies hiring most: Department of the Air Force Headquarters (117), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (29), Federal Aviation Administration (19), Veterans Health Administration (19), Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System (16). Source: USAJOBS, 2026-10-10.
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
- State pages: Illinois, Indiana
- Compare Chicago with other metro areas
- Paycheck calculator: what a salary in Chicago is worth elsewhere
- Mentioned in: October 2026 report
Where it ranks
A posting that lists several places counts once in the metro. Metro areas are the Census Bureau's 2023 definitions. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in the area. Methodology · All metro areas (CSV)