The top 25 occupations in Illinois ranked by 2026 median annual salary. Based on BLS data projected forward with Illinois cost-of-living adjustment.
Ranked by median annual base salary. Click any role for full Illinois-specific detail.
| Rank | Role | Median 2026 | 75th % | Top 10% (P90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | CEO (Mid-Market) Business & Management | $555,100 | $721,600 | $915,900 |
| #2 | Surgeon Healthcare | $456,700 | $593,700 | $753,500 |
| #3 | Chief Financial Officer Finance | $418,000 | $543,400 | $689,700 |
| #4 | Physician (MD/DO) Healthcare | $294,400 | $382,700 | $485,800 |
| #5 | Corporate Lawyer Legal | $287,900 | $374,300 | $475,000 |
| #6 | Investment Banker Finance | $261,100 | $339,400 | $430,800 |
| #7 | Dentist Healthcare | $216,300 | $281,200 | $356,900 |
| #8 | AI Engineer Technology | $215,300 | $279,900 | $355,200 |
| #9 | Lawyer / Attorney Legal | $206,100 | $267,900 | $340,100 |
| #10 | Machine Learning Engineer Technology | $197,000 | $256,100 | $325,000 |
| #11 | Management Consultant Business & Management | $193,500 | $251,600 | $319,300 |
| #12 | Senior Software Engineer Technology | $192,400 | $250,100 | $317,400 |
| #13 | Site Reliability Engineer Technology | $185,500 | $241,200 | $306,100 |
| #14 | IT Manager Technology | $180,900 | $235,200 | $298,500 |
| #15 | Controller Finance | $177,500 | $230,700 | $292,800 |
| #16 | Judge / Magistrate Legal | $177,500 | $230,700 | $292,800 |
| #17 | Product Manager Technology | $174,100 | $226,300 | $287,200 |
| #18 | Petroleum Engineer Engineering | $171,100 | $222,500 | $282,400 |
| #19 | Sales Engineer Sales | $171,100 | $222,500 | $282,400 |
| #20 | Data Scientist Technology | $169,500 | $220,300 | $279,700 |
| #21 | Marketing Manager Business & Management | $167,700 | $218,000 | $276,700 |
| #22 | Pharmacist Healthcare | $165,800 | $215,600 | $273,600 |
| #23 | Account Executive (SaaS) Sales | $164,200 | $213,500 | $270,900 |
| #24 | Data Engineer Technology | $162,600 | $211,400 | $268,300 |
| #25 | Cloud Engineer (AWS/Azure) Technology | $162,600 | $211,400 | $268,300 |
In Illinois, the highest-paying job tracked is CEO (Mid-Market), with a median salary of $555,100 in 2026. The 90th percentile reaches $915,900.
Salaries are based on BLS OEWS data, projected forward to 2026 using category-specific wage growth and adjusted for Illinois's cost-of-living index. The ranking shows median annual base pay (excluding bonuses, equity, and benefits).
Most of the top 25 highest-paying jobs in Illinois typically require at least a bachelor's degree, and many require advanced degrees (medicine, law, engineering specializations). Trades roles are notable exceptions — they appear in some state rankings without requiring four-year degrees.