Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary Salary — Chicago, Illinois

The average Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary in Chicago, Illinois earns $82,520 a year.

$82,520 / year, mean
↓ 12.8% 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 philosophy and religion 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)
830
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.

Riverside $139,950 San Francisco $133,360 San Jose $131,590 San Diego $125,460 Ann Arbor $125,400 Los Angeles $123,320 Sacramento $121,780 Ithaca $119,320 Oxnard $117,740 New York $111,580 Eugene $107,840 Austin $104,620 Rochester $96,760 Albany $96,330 Richmond $95,640 Lansing $93,810 Scranton $93,390 Seattle $92,210 Syracuse $91,760 Baltimore $90,800 Harrisonburg $89,720 Detroit $89,600 Harrisburg $89,060 Kiryas Joel $88,920 McAllen $88,590 Portland $87,280 Trenton $87,090 Philadelphia $86,830 Buffalo $86,760 Houston $86,680 Grand Rapids $85,090 Pittsburgh $83,640 Indianapolis $83,470 Allentown $83,030 Chicago $82,520 Virginia Beach $81,520 South Bend $81,020 Dallas $77,880 Spokane $76,890 Salem $75,670 Miami $74,570 Tampa $74,330 Orlando $71,510 El Paso $70,940 San Antonio $70,640 Lexington $70,540 Abilene $68,040
CityMean salaryvs. Chicago
Abilene, Texas$68,040-17.5%
Albany, New York$96,330+16.7%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$83,030+0.6%
Ann Arbor, Michigan$125,400+52.0%
Austin, Texas$104,620+26.8%
Baltimore, Maryland$90,800+10.0%
Buffalo, New York$86,760+5.1%
Dallas, Texas$77,880-5.6%
Detroit, Michigan$89,600+8.6%
El Paso, Texas$70,940-14.0%
Eugene, Oregon$107,840+30.7%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$85,090+3.1%
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania$89,060+7.9%
Harrisonburg, Virginia$89,720+8.7%
Houston, Texas$86,680+5.0%
Indianapolis, Indiana$83,470+1.2%
Ithaca, New York$119,320+44.6%
Kiryas Joel, New York$88,920+7.8%
Lansing, Michigan$93,810+13.7%
Lexington, Kentucky$70,540-14.5%
Los Angeles, California$123,320+49.4%
McAllen, Texas$88,590+7.4%
Miami, Florida$74,570-9.6%
New York, New York$111,580+35.2%
Orlando, Florida$71,510-13.3%
Oxnard, California$117,740+42.7%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$86,830+5.2%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$83,640+1.4%
Portland, Oregon$87,280+5.8%
Richmond, Virginia$95,640+15.9%
Riverside, California$139,950+69.6%
Rochester, New York$96,760+17.3%
Sacramento, California$121,780+47.6%
Salem, Oregon$75,670-8.3%
San Antonio, Texas$70,640-14.4%
San Diego, California$125,460+52.0%
San Francisco, California$133,360+61.6%
San Jose, California$131,590+59.5%
Scranton, Pennsylvania$93,390+13.2%
Seattle, Washington$92,210+11.7%
South Bend, Indiana$81,020-1.8%
Spokane, Washington$76,890-6.8%
Syracuse, New York$91,760+11.2%
Tampa, Florida$74,330-9.9%
Trenton, New Jersey$87,090+5.5%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$81,520-1.2%

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
82,520/yr
Estimated take-home
62,939/yr
Est. total withheld
23.7%

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 Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary salaries in Illinois → All Philosophy and Religion 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 25-1126 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