If you’ve ever scrolled through the Chicago Data Portal on a Tuesday night—maybe you’re bored, maybe you’re curious about your neighbor’s lifestyle—you’ve seen the lists. Thousands of names. Row after row of numbers. It’s the city of chicago employee pay database, a massive spreadsheet that basically lays bare exactly what the local government spends on its people. Honestly, it is a lot to take in.
But there is a massive difference between what a person is "budgeted" to make and what actually hits their Chase bank account. People see a $200,000 salary for a staffer and lose their minds. Sometimes they should. Other times, the data is just... messy.
Why the City of Chicago Employee Pay Database Can Be Deceiving
Let’s get the weird stuff out of the way first. In late 2025, a minor firestorm erupted when people noticed some aldermanic aides were listed as making $268,000 a year. That’s more than the Mayor. It’s more than the heads of most massive departments.
The City Clerk’s office eventually had to clarify: the database was "wrong" in a technical sense. Those eye-popping numbers weren’t base salaries. They were the result of "temporary salary adjustments." Basically, year-end bonuses. If an alderman has leftover money in their staff budget because someone quit or took a leave, they sometimes just give it to the remaining staff. Is it a loophole? Sorta.
It highlights the first rule of looking at city pay: Base salary is just the floor.
The Overtime Kings
If you look at the top 1% of earners in the city, you aren’t just seeing lawyers and commissioners. You’re seeing paramedics and police officers. In 2024 and 2025, some paramedics cleared over $500,000.
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- Ross Vernard (Lieutenant): Over $558,000.
- Snevely Jamie L (Paramedic): Over $538,000.
- Gaughan Katharine M (Paramedic): Over $500,000.
How? Overtime. Brutal, soul-crushing amounts of it. When the city is short-staffed, the people who show up to the 2 a.m. calls end up making more than the people running the departments. It's a massive expense for taxpayers, but for the workers, it's the price of a life lived mostly on the clock.
Breaking Down the 2026 Budget Realities
Chicago is currently staring at a $1.2 billion budget gap for 2026. That is a terrifying number. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has been trying to figure out how to pay everyone without the city's finances actually imploding.
A huge chunk of that deficit—over $600 million—is tied directly to personnel costs. That includes wages, healthcare, and those ever-present pension contributions. To keep things moving, the 2026 budget proposal actually suggests a hiring freeze to save about $50 million. They're also looking at a "head tax" for big businesses to help cover the bills.
What the Average Worker Makes
If you aren't a high-ranking lieutenant or a bonus-heavy aldermanic aide, the numbers are more "middle class."
As of early 2026, the average city of chicago employee pay for a police officer sits around $90,254. If you're a fresh recruit, you start closer to $73,237. But the "Step and Lane" system means that if you stay, you get raises almost automatically. After two years, a Police Officer II is usually clearing $104,582.
It’s a structured climb. You know exactly what you’ll make in five years, provided the city stays solvent.
The Jobs Nobody Thinks About
We always talk about cops and firefighters. But the city is a machine with a lot of strange gears.
There are "Aviation Security Officers" making $364,000 (thanks, OT). There are "Chief Operating Engineers" clearing $408,000. Then you have the librarians, the truck drivers, and the people who test the water.
- Librarians: Often start in the $50k-$60k range, though "Head Library Clerks" can move up with seniority.
- Water Management: This is where you find a lot of the "Operating Engineers" who keep the pipes from bursting. Their pay is often tied to union contracts that ensure they stay competitive with the private sector.
- Aldermen: They make about $152,000. Ironically, their aides sometimes outearn them during "bonus" season, which leads to those awkward headlines we mentioned.
The Benefits Gap
You can't talk about pay without talking about the "hidden" paycheck. City workers generally have healthcare plans that would make a private-sector employee weep with joy.
However, the cost of these benefits is exactly what is driving the 2026 budget crisis. Healthcare and benefits costs for city workers grew by a staggering 42% in the most recent budget cycle. That’s an extra $319 million just to keep the current level of coverage.
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It creates a tension. The city needs to attract talent, but the cost of that talent is becoming a "structural challenge"—which is government-speak for "we're running out of money."
Is the Data Actually Public?
Yes. Totally. You can go to the Chicago Data Portal right now and search by name.
It’s updated constantly. The 2026 budget recommendations are already out there, listing every single position the city intends to fund. If you're looking for a job or just want to see if your tax dollars are being used to pay a "Senior Data Entry Operator" more than you make, the information is there.
Just remember: The "Annual Salary" column is a lie. It doesn't include the overtime. It doesn't include the "temporary adjustments." And it doesn't include the 6% salary reductions that sometimes hit non-union employees during "furlough" years.
How to Use This Information
If you're looking to get hired by the city, don't just look at the starting number. Look at the "Step" schedule. Most city jobs are governed by a pay scale where your raises are baked into your contract based on years of service.
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- Check the Union Status: Union jobs (like those in the CPD or CFD) have much more rigid, but guaranteed, pay increases.
- Look at the Department: Aviation and Water Management often have the highest "actual" pay because of the sheer volume of overtime available.
- Factor in the Pension: It's a deduction from your paycheck now, but it's the "gold at the end of the rainbow" that private-sector jobs rarely offer anymore.
The reality of city of chicago employee pay is that it's a mix of steady, predictable middle-class wages and high-stakes, high-overtime payouts for specialized roles. With a massive deficit looming in 2026, the "predictable" part might get a little rocky, but the machine keeps turning.
To get a true sense of what a specific role pays, you should cross-reference the City of Chicago's "Position and Salary Schedule" with the actual "Current Employee Names and Salaries" dataset. This allows you to see the gap between the official budgeted salary and the actual take-home pay including overtime and adjustments.