Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators Salary — Chicago, Illinois

The average Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Chicago, Illinois earns $59,210 a year.

$59,210 / year, mean
↓ 0.2% below national average 25th percentile in Illinois

Chicago pays below most of Illinois for this role, though still within a normal range for the state. That's close to the national average for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators — 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.

Percentile within Illinois

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
4,920
Estimate confidence
RSE 0.0%
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.

Erie $66,250 San Francisco $64,200 Lansing $63,130 San Jose $63,020 Santa Maria $63,000 McAllen $62,430 Wenatchee $62,420 Medford $62,380 Evansville $62,370 Trenton $62,160 Amarillo $62,100 Sacramento $62,090 Santa Rosa $62,050 Scranton $61,990 Peoria $61,820 Champaign $61,810 Beaumont $61,790 Corpus Christi $61,700 Redding $61,630 San Diego $61,620 Fresno $61,600 New York $61,560 Seattle $61,540 Fort Myers $61,450 El Paso $61,360 Kalamazoo $61,010 Virginia Beach $61,000 South Bend $60,960 Detroit $60,940 Midland $60,930 Roanoke $60,880 Johnstown $60,820 Eugene $60,810 Austin $60,740 Los Angeles $60,710 San Antonio $60,660 Springfield $60,540 Charleston $60,470 Sarasota $60,420 Tallahassee $60,350 Yakima $60,300 Grand Rapids $60,260 Allentown $60,170 Lexington $60,140 Portland $60,100 Abilene $60,060 Pittsburgh $60,040 Rochester $59,990 Fort Wayne $59,900 Baltimore $59,800 Riverside $59,720 Kiryas Joel $59,700 Philadelphia $59,660 Tampa $59,640 Chicago $59,210 Albany $59,040 Orlando $58,950 Traverse City $58,900 Bakersfield $58,750 Miami $58,740 Syracuse $58,730 Altoona $58,450 Pensacola $58,410 Harrisburg $58,340 Lancaster $58,290 Spokane $58,100 Muncie $58,090 Dallas $57,690 Buffalo $57,640 Lubbock $57,630 Louisville $56,820 Jacksonville $56,700 Houston $56,670 Richmond $56,630 Gainesville $55,710 Indianapolis $52,160
CityMean salaryvs. Chicago
Abilene, Texas$60,060+1.4%
Albany, New York$59,040-0.3%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$60,170+1.6%
Altoona, Pennsylvania$58,450-1.3%
Amarillo, Texas$62,100+4.9%
Austin, Texas$60,740+2.6%
Bakersfield, California$58,750-0.8%
Baltimore, Maryland$59,800+1.0%
Beaumont, Texas$61,790+4.4%
Buffalo, New York$57,640-2.7%
Fort Myers, Florida$61,450+3.8%
Champaign, Illinois$61,810+4.4%
Charleston, West Virginia$60,470+2.1%
Corpus Christi, Texas$61,700+4.2%
Dallas, Texas$57,690-2.6%
Detroit, Michigan$60,940+2.9%
El Paso, Texas$61,360+3.6%
Erie, Pennsylvania$66,250+11.9%
Eugene, Oregon$60,810+2.7%
Evansville, Indiana$62,370+5.3%
Fort Wayne, Indiana$59,900+1.2%
Fresno, California$61,600+4.0%
Gainesville, Florida$55,710-5.9%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$60,260+1.8%
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania$58,340-1.5%
Houston, Texas$56,670-4.3%
Indianapolis, Indiana$52,160-11.9%
Jacksonville, Florida$56,700-4.2%
Johnstown, Pennsylvania$60,820+2.7%
Kalamazoo, Michigan$61,010+3.0%
Kiryas Joel, New York$59,700+0.8%
Lancaster, Pennsylvania$58,290-1.6%
Lansing, Michigan$63,130+6.6%
Lexington, Kentucky$60,140+1.6%
Los Angeles, California$60,710+2.5%
Louisville, Kentucky$56,820-4.0%
Lubbock, Texas$57,630-2.7%
McAllen, Texas$62,430+5.4%
Medford, Oregon$62,380+5.4%
Miami, Florida$58,740-0.8%
Midland, Texas$60,930+2.9%
Muncie, Indiana$58,090-1.9%
New York, New York$61,560+4.0%
Sarasota, Florida$60,420+2.0%
Orlando, Florida$58,950-0.4%
Pensacola, Florida$58,410-1.4%
Peoria, Illinois$61,820+4.4%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$59,660+0.8%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$60,040+1.4%
Portland, Oregon$60,100+1.5%
Redding, California$61,630+4.1%
Richmond, Virginia$56,630-4.4%
Riverside, California$59,720+0.9%
Roanoke, Virginia$60,880+2.8%
Rochester, New York$59,990+1.3%
Sacramento, California$62,090+4.9%
San Antonio, Texas$60,660+2.4%
San Diego, California$61,620+4.1%
San Francisco, California$64,200+8.4%
San Jose, California$63,020+6.4%
Santa Maria, California$63,000+6.4%
Santa Rosa, California$62,050+4.8%
Scranton, Pennsylvania$61,990+4.7%
Seattle, Washington$61,540+3.9%
South Bend, Indiana$60,960+3.0%
Spokane, Washington$58,100-1.9%
Springfield, Illinois$60,540+2.2%
Syracuse, New York$58,730-0.8%
Tallahassee, Florida$60,350+1.9%
Tampa, Florida$59,640+0.7%
Traverse City, Michigan$58,900-0.5%
Trenton, New Jersey$62,160+5.0%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$61,000+3.0%
Wenatchee, Washington$62,420+5.4%
Yakima, Washington$60,300+1.8%

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:

Gross salary
59,210/yr
Estimated take-home
46,965/yr
Est. total withheld
20.7%

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 Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators salaries in Illinois → All Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

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

Occupation 43-5053 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