Cook County · Illinois
Chicago, IL jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Chicago, IL earn a median of $49,320 a year, 11% above the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 7.9% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 24% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $49,320#18 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 7.9%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 67.3%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 1,382,634Civilian employed, age 16+
What Chicago does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance24%
- Professional, scientific & management18.2%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food9.1%
- Finance, insurance & real estate8.7%
- Retail trade8.3%
- Manufacturing7.9%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities7.1%
- Other services, except public administration4.7%
- Public administration3.9%
- Construction3.8%
- Information2.1%
- Wholesale trade2%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.2%
Related data for Chicago
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.