Workers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $33.41 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($68.32), legal ($67.43), and computer and mathematical ($52.15). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($17.27), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($19.51), and healthcare support ($19.52). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Chicago area included office and administrative support (11.5 percent), transportation and material moving (11.0 percent), and management (9.0 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); legal (1.0 percent); and architecture and engineering (1.3 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—management—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Chicago had 405,130 jobs in management, accounting for 9.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $68.32, compared to the national wage of $66.23.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the management group included general and operations managers (129,700), financial managers (39,420), and sales managers (25,610). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were chief executives and financial managers, with mean hourly wages of $147.63 and $87.01, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare ($26.98) and food service managers ($33.06). (Detailed data for the management occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16980.htm.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Chicago area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the management group. For instance, marketing managers were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Chicago, and human resources managers, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. Architectural and engineering managers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Chicago, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 15,044 establishments with a response rate of 55 percent.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cook County, IL; DeKalb County, IL; DuPage County, IL; Grundy County, IL; Kane County, IL; Kendall County, IL; Lake County, IL; McHenry County, IL; Will County, IL; Jasper County, IN; Lake County, IN; Newton County, IN; Porter County, IN; and Kenosha County, WI.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for management occupations, Chicago metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Management occupations	405,130	1.3	68.32	142,100
Chief executives	4,710	0.8	147.63	307,070
General and operations managers	129,700	1.3	66.80	138,940
Legislators	(5)	(5)	(6)	61,650
Advertising and promotions managers	520	0.9	58.87	122,440
Marketing managers	20,690	1.9	77.54	161,280
Sales managers	25,610	1.5	77.91	162,060
Public relations managers	2,730	1.3	66.66	138,650
Fundraising managers	1,710	1.8	54.69	113,760
Administrative services managers	10,180	1.4	59.33	123,410
Facilities managers	(5)	(5)	52.98	110,190
Computer and information systems managers	21,370	1.2	80.91	168,290
Financial managers	39,420	1.7	87.01	180,980
Industrial production managers	7,950	1.2	62.16	129,280
Purchasing managers	2,860	1.2	72.76	151,330
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers	9,680	1.6	55.54	115,530
Compensation and benefits managers	450	0.8	66.11	137,510
Human resources managers	11,050	1.9	73.38	152,620
Training and development managers	1,220	1.0	71.07	147,820
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	(5)	(5)	43.06	89,550
Construction managers	11,970	1.2	58.21	121,080
Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare	2,100	1.1	26.98	56,110
Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary	10,550	1.2	(6)	119,040
Education administrators, postsecondary	7,440	1.5	49.55	103,060
Education administrators, all other	1,380	0.9	43.20	89,860
Architectural and engineering managers	6,240	1.0	78.08	162,410
Food service managers	9,320	1.3	33.06	68,770
Gambling managers	150	1.1	38.10	79,250
Entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling	1,770	2.0	36.86	76,660
Lodging managers	700	0.6	36.14	75,180
Medical and health services managers	14,180	0.9	65.40	136,030
Natural sciences managers	2,420	0.8	76.86	159,870
Postmasters and mail superintendents	210	0.5	44.63	92,820
Property, real estate, and community association managers	10,610	1.3	40.51	84,250
Social and community service managers	4,800	0.9	37.81	78,640
Emergency management directors	(5)	(5)	49.04	102,000
Funeral home managers	(5)	(5)	42.57	88,550
Personal service managers, all other	230	0.7	31.46	65,430
Managers, all other	(5)	(5)	70.48	146,600
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16980.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data. (5) Estimate not released. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.