Chicago Public Schools / Helen M Hefferan School / Principal
Job-title file
Lead staff and operations — set priorities, allocate resources, and oversee program delivery.
1 employees hold this title in Helen M Hefferan School. Median total compensation for the role is $199,144, above the department median of $107,508.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary — about 11,050 people — is $128,780. Helen M Hefferan School pays a median base salary of $163,961 for this role, 27% above that figure — about the 87th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 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 Helen M Hefferan School’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary — about 328,330 people — is $105,870. Helen M Hefferan School’s median base salary is 55% above that national figure, about the 88th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
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 Helen M Hefferan School is $199,144, 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 departments
Principal is held in 477 Chicago Public Schools departments. In Helen M Hefferan School, the median of $199,144 ranks #440 of 477.
Median total compensation for the Principal role in other Chicago Public Schoolsdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 7 jurisdictions. In Chicago Public Schools, the median of $223,911 ranks #1 of 7. See Principal across all of Chicago Public Schools →
Median total compensation for comparable Principalroles 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.
Record list
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Principal/Helen M Hefferan School
Source-specific fields
Ladonna Williams works as a Principal for Helen M Hefferan School. Ladonna earned $199,144 in 2026.