Compared with the local labor market
School Counselor pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors — about 9,790 people — is $64,730. George B Swift Specialty Schoo pays a median base salary of $102,383 for this role, 58% above that figure — about the 85th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where George B Swift Specialty Schoo sits in the local pay range
$47,200
$52,200
$64,730
$84,760
$110,580
George B Swift Specialty Schoo median · $102,383
The bar is the range of annual wages for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors across every employer in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows George B Swift Specialty Schoo’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors — about 353,310 people — is $64,330. George B Swift Specialty Schoo’s median base salary is 59% above that national figure, about the 88th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$45,020
$51,270
$64,330
$82,870
$104,770
George B Swift Specialty Schoo median · $102,383
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at George B Swift Specialty Schoo is $135,337, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
School Counselor beyond Chicago Public Schools
This role is reported in 3 jurisdictions. In Chicago Public Schools, the median of $135,773 ranks #1 of 3. See School Counselor across all of Chicago Public Schools →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable School Counselor roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.