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Physical Scientists, All Other · SOC 19-2099

Physical Scientists, All Other Salary in the Chicago Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area

Figures describe the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Chicago city limits.

Median annual wage$121,720
Median hourly wage$58.52

Physical Scientists, All Other in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area earned a median of $121,720 per year ($58.52 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $68,310 at the 10th percentile to $170,710 at the 90th. BLS estimates 430 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Physical Scientists, All Other in the Chicago metro area earn more than $121,720 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $97,900 and $153,150.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$68,310$97,900$121,720$153,150$170,710
Hourly$32.84$47.07$58.52$73.63$82.07

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Chicago metro areathis metro area
    $121,720
  • Illinoisstate (IL)
    $108,970
  • United Statesnational
    $122,570

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +12% vs Illinois overall and −1% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$67,000$104,823$142,647$180,470Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $67,000Lexington-Fayette, KY — $67,610McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX — $71,580Lubbock, TX — $76,350Baton Rouge, LA — $78,300Columbus, OH — $78,440El Paso, TX — $80,880Duluth, MN-WI — $81,920Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $91,430Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $93,440Madison, WI — $95,580Rochester, NY — $95,850Athens-Clarke County, GA — $96,820San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $97,150Waco, TX — $97,400Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $99,460Asheville, NC — $100,690Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $101,070Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $106,330Cleveland, OH — $106,620Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $106,750Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $108,160Oklahoma City, OK — $111,380Ogden, UT — $112,400Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ — $113,800Tucson, AZ — $115,000Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL — $115,110Urban Honolulu, HI — $117,000Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $117,640Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $117,770Trenton-Princeton, NJ — $117,840Fort Collins-Loveland, CO — $118,560San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $120,490Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $120,740Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $121,720Albuquerque, NM — $121,890Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $123,240Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $123,750New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $125,070Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $128,380San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $128,720Pittsburgh, PA — $128,750Colorado Springs, CO — $129,630Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $130,940Anchorage, AK — $131,060Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $131,640San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $132,410Kennewick-Richland, WA — $132,830Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $133,590Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $134,720Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $136,160Knoxville, TN — $136,990Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $137,050Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $137,220Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $137,340Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $137,680New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $139,560Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $140,980Boulder, CO — $141,320Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $142,080Huntsville, AL — $142,650Charlottesville, VA — $144,580Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC — $149,550Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $157,710San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $160,580Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $170,980Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $176,440Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $180,470

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Chicago metro area has the 34th-highest published median for this occupation among the 68 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists$85,390Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists$83,240School Psychologists$90,620Chemists$90,920Occupational Health and Safety Specialists$101,630Physicists$137,140

Highest-paying metro areas for physical scientists, all others · Highest-paying occupations in Chicago Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

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.