Financial and Investment Analysts salary in Chicago, Illinois

About 14,970 Financial and Investment Analysts work in the Chicago metro, making it one of the larger concentrations of this role in the country. The median annual wage in 2024 was $102,790, sitting just above the Illinois median of $101,400 and the national median of $101,220. The gaps are small, roughly 1% to 2% in either direction, so Chicago is close to the national baseline rather than a clear outlier.

The spread within the metro tells a more interesting story. At the 10th percentile, analysts earned $64,070. At the 90th, they earned $202,050, a range of about $138,000 between the bottom and the top of the field. Top earners in Chicago make roughly three times what entry-level peers do. That kind of spread usually reflects wide differences in employer type, years of experience, and the complexity of the work, from junior roles at regional firms to senior positions at large asset managers and trading houses.

The mean annual wage of $117,210 runs about $14,400 above the median. When the mean sits that far above the median, a smaller group of high earners is pulling the average up. Readers comparing job offers should weight the median more heavily as a benchmark for typical pay.

Illinois as a whole tracks closely with Chicago here, which is not surprising given how much of the state's financial employment is concentrated in the metro. A role in suburban Cook County or the collar counties will likely land in a similar range, though individual employer and industry matter more than geography at that level of detail.