Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area

Highest-Paying Occupations in Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area

Figures describe the Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area, a BLS-defined region outside metropolitan areas — not a single city or town. Occupations are ranked by published median annual wage; occupations where BLS suppressed the annual median or publishes only hourly wages are not ranked (3 such occupations here).

Top 25 of 326 occupations

Occupations with the highest published median annual wages in the Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area, May 2025
#OccupationMedian annualMedian hourlyEmployment
1Physicians, All Other$414,640$199.35150
2Family Medicine Physicians$278,820$134.0530
3Nurse Anesthetists$239,200 or more$115.00 or more60
4Chief Executives$234,030$112.5250
5Dentists, General$223,580$107.4960
6Architectural and Engineering Managers$159,510$76.69170
7Pharmacists$138,680$66.67160
8Physician Assistants$136,410$65.5850
9Marketing Managers$135,900$65.34160
10Computer and Information Systems Managers$135,300$65.05180
11Nurse Practitioners$134,310$64.57190
12Purchasing Managers$131,180$63.0750
13Managers, All Other$129,580$62.30260
14Financial Managers$129,280$62.15650
15Human Resources Managers$128,820$61.93150
16Sales Managers$127,700$61.40330
17Industrial Production Managers$124,950$60.07400
18Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers$110,930$53.3370
19First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers$107,990$51.92200
20Veterinarians$105,590$50.7680
21Medical and Health Services Managers$104,120$50.06330
22Lawyers$104,110$50.05240
23Software Developers$103,910$49.96200
24Electrical Engineers$102,960$49.5080
25Computer Network Architects$102,030$49.0540

The full list of every published occupation here is on the Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.