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 close to the national average for museum technicians and conservators — a fairly typical rate for this role. 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.
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.
| City | Mean salary | vs. Chicago |
|---|---|---|
| Albany, New York | $70,470 | +14.6% |
| Ann Arbor, Michigan | $39,390 | -36.0% |
| Austin, Texas | $51,050 | -17.0% |
| Baltimore, Maryland | $57,610 | -6.3% |
| Dallas, Texas | $53,690 | -12.7% |
| Detroit, Michigan | $49,600 | -19.3% |
| Fresno, California | $44,580 | -27.5% |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan | $46,570 | -24.3% |
| Houston, Texas | $45,850 | -25.4% |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | $48,090 | -21.8% |
| Kiryas Joel, New York | $67,370 | +9.5% |
| Los Angeles, California | $63,560 | +3.3% |
| Louisville, Kentucky | $51,860 | -15.7% |
| Miami, Florida | $56,550 | -8.0% |
| New York, New York | $76,720 | +24.7% |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $55,190 | -10.3% |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | $45,670 | -25.7% |
| Portland, Oregon | $55,770 | -9.3% |
| Richmond, Virginia | $56,300 | -8.5% |
| Riverside, California | $67,070 | +9.1% |
| Rochester, New York | $57,160 | -7.1% |
| Sacramento, California | $59,710 | -2.9% |
| San Antonio, Texas | $39,740 | -35.4% |
| San Diego, California | $56,350 | -8.4% |
| San Francisco, California | $74,400 | +21.0% |
| San Jose, California | $64,200 | +4.4% |
| Santa Cruz, California | $69,180 | +12.5% |
| Santa Maria, California | $58,660 | -4.6% |
| Seattle, Washington | $63,210 | +2.8% |
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:
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.
Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.
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.
