History Teachers, Postsecondary Salary — Chicago, Illinois

The average History Teachers, Postsecondary in Chicago, Illinois earns $87,810 a year.

$87,810 / year, mean
↓ 14.0% below national average 100th percentile in Illinois

Chicago sits at the very top of the range for this role in Illinois — among the highest-paying cities in the state for this occupation. That's noticeably below the national average for history teachers, postsecondary, worth factoring into any relocation math. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within Illinois

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
470
Estimate confidence
RSE 0.9%
Cost of living 104 #31 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 1770 #92 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $353,998 #78 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $88,850 #28 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Chicago ranks #31 for cost of living and #78 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

San Francisco $176,390 Riverside $175,080 San Diego $140,720 McAllen $137,440 Sacramento $137,250 Los Angeles $132,520 San Jose $132,430 Fresno $124,370 New York $115,480 Houston $109,730 Ithaca $108,790 Lansing $108,330 Baltimore $106,240 Buffalo $105,000 Austin $103,670 Philadelphia $103,570 Portland $103,390 College Station $101,800 Harrisburg $101,140 Albany $99,200 Allentown $98,800 Scranton $98,660 Syracuse $98,120 Reading $97,210 Virginia Beach $96,490 Rochester $95,800 Richmond $95,470 Seattle $94,920 Pittsburgh $93,560 Detroit $93,530 Miami $91,950 Kiryas Joel $91,320 Dallas $90,220 Harrisonburg $87,950 Chicago $87,810 Grand Rapids $85,430 Indianapolis $85,160 South Bend $84,090 Lexington $81,290 Spokane $78,580 El Paso $77,600 San Antonio $77,360 Lubbock $71,610 Orlando $69,040 Bloomington $65,340 Louisville $61,700
CityMean salaryvs. Chicago
Albany, New York$99,200+13.0%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$98,800+12.5%
Austin, Texas$103,670+18.1%
Baltimore, Maryland$106,240+21.0%
Bloomington, Illinois$65,340-25.6%
Buffalo, New York$105,000+19.6%
College Station, Texas$101,800+15.9%
Dallas, Texas$90,220+2.7%
Detroit, Michigan$93,530+6.5%
El Paso, Texas$77,600-11.6%
Fresno, California$124,370+41.6%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$85,430-2.7%
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania$101,140+15.2%
Harrisonburg, Virginia$87,950+0.2%
Houston, Texas$109,730+25.0%
Indianapolis, Indiana$85,160-3.0%
Ithaca, New York$108,790+23.9%
Kiryas Joel, New York$91,320+4.0%
Lansing, Michigan$108,330+23.4%
Lexington, Kentucky$81,290-7.4%
Los Angeles, California$132,520+50.9%
Louisville, Kentucky$61,700-29.7%
Lubbock, Texas$71,610-18.4%
McAllen, Texas$137,440+56.5%
Miami, Florida$91,950+4.7%
New York, New York$115,480+31.5%
Orlando, Florida$69,040-21.4%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$103,570+17.9%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$93,560+6.5%
Portland, Oregon$103,390+17.7%
Reading, Pennsylvania$97,210+10.7%
Richmond, Virginia$95,470+8.7%
Riverside, California$175,080+99.4%
Rochester, New York$95,800+9.1%
Sacramento, California$137,250+56.3%
San Antonio, Texas$77,360-11.9%
San Diego, California$140,720+60.3%
San Francisco, California$176,390+100.9%
San Jose, California$132,430+50.8%
Scranton, Pennsylvania$98,660+12.4%
Seattle, Washington$94,920+8.1%
South Bend, Indiana$84,090-4.2%
Spokane, Washington$78,580-10.5%
Syracuse, New York$98,120+11.7%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$96,490+9.9%

This metro area spans more than one state — where you actually pay income tax depends on where you work, not just where BLS assigns the area. Choose your work state:

Gross salary
87,810/yr
Estimated take-home
66,399/yr
Est. total withheld
24.4%

Single filer, federal + state tax (where the selected state levies one) + FICA, 2025 rates, for whichever state you select above. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional.

View cost of living in this state All History Teachers, Postsecondary salaries in Illinois → All History Teachers, Postsecondary salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 25-1125 SOC code
Official area Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 16980 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: il_idor_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
NapervilleElgin
Multi-state area: IL;IN
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: Illinois

Population (metro area)
9,359,555