Surgical Assistants Salary — Chicago, Illinois

The average Surgical Assistants in Chicago, Illinois earns $78,390 a year.

$78,390 / year, mean
↑ 3.4% above 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 close to the national average for surgical assistants — 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)
2,090
Estimate confidence
RSE 4.8%
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.

Lexington $115,640 Virginia Beach $93,890 Portland $93,690 Austin $88,140 El Paso $86,000 Dallas $85,960 Deltona $84,800 Orlando $84,110 Lubbock $83,980 Miami $83,700 Jacksonville $82,680 Seattle $81,360 Salem $81,320 Chicago $78,390 Philadelphia $78,000 Springfield $76,880 San Antonio $75,230 Champaign $74,830 New York $74,070 Baltimore $72,770 Amarillo $72,690 Richmond $72,600 Fort Wayne $70,210 McAllen $69,390 Louisville $68,430 Los Angeles $67,600 Pensacola $67,060 Houston $65,800 Tampa $65,630 Indianapolis $65,530 Sarasota $64,050 Huntington $63,530 Ocala $62,690 Detroit $54,230 Pittsburgh $53,650 Midland $52,710 Parkersburg $52,370
CityMean salaryvs. Chicago
Amarillo, Texas$72,690-7.3%
Austin, Texas$88,140+12.4%
Baltimore, Maryland$72,770-7.2%
Champaign, Illinois$74,830-4.5%
Dallas, Texas$85,960+9.7%
Deltona, Florida$84,800+8.2%
Detroit, Michigan$54,230-30.8%
El Paso, Texas$86,000+9.7%
Fort Wayne, Indiana$70,210-10.4%
Houston, Texas$65,800-16.1%
Huntington, West Virginia$63,530-19.0%
Indianapolis, Indiana$65,530-16.4%
Jacksonville, Florida$82,680+5.5%
Lexington, Kentucky$115,640+47.5%
Los Angeles, California$67,600-13.8%
Louisville, Kentucky$68,430-12.7%
Lubbock, Texas$83,980+7.1%
McAllen, Texas$69,390-11.5%
Miami, Florida$83,700+6.8%
Midland, Texas$52,710-32.8%
New York, New York$74,070-5.5%
Sarasota, Florida$64,050-18.3%
Ocala, Florida$62,690-20.0%
Orlando, Florida$84,110+7.3%
Parkersburg, West Virginia$52,370-33.2%
Pensacola, Florida$67,060-14.5%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$78,000-0.5%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$53,650-31.6%
Portland, Oregon$93,690+19.5%
Richmond, Virginia$72,600-7.4%
Salem, Oregon$81,320+3.7%
San Antonio, Texas$75,230-4.0%
Seattle, Washington$81,360+3.8%
Springfield, Illinois$76,880-1.9%
Tampa, Florida$65,630-16.3%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$93,890+19.8%

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
78,390/yr
Estimated take-home
60,238/yr
Est. total withheld
23.2%

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 Surgical Assistants salaries in Illinois → All Surgical Assistants salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

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

Occupation 29-9093 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