Software Developers salary in Illinois

The median Software Developer in Illinois earned $127,770 in 2024, about 8% below the national median of $138,520. The mean came in at $127,030, which is slightly lower than the median. That is unusual. In most states the average runs above the median because a small group of very high earners pulls it up. Here the two figures are nearly identical, which suggests the wage distribution in Illinois is more even than in coastal tech markets.

The spread between the lowest and highest earners is still wide. The bottom 10% of Software Developers in the state earned around $75,450. The top 10% earned $172,020. Top earners make roughly 2.3 times what entry-level peers take home. Most of that jump happens in the upper half: the 75th-percentile wage of $159,280 is already close to the 90th, which points to a relatively compressed ceiling compared to states like California or Washington.

Illinois has a cost-of-living index of 99.5, essentially at the national baseline. A dollar here buys almost exactly what the national average suggests it should. That means the nominal 8% gap versus the US median translates to a real gap of about the same size. There is no cost-of-living offset that closes it, but there is also no penalty for living here the way there is in San Francisco or New York.

BLS projects employment for Software Developers to grow 15.8% between 2024 and 2034, a pace the agency categorizes as much faster than average. Illinois had 54,490 employed in this role in 2024, one of the larger state-level totals in the country. A growing national occupation and a large existing base tend to produce a steady volume of job openings even without outsized local wage premiums.