Chicago Public Schools / William Howard Taft High Schoo / School Counselor
Job-title file
Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.
11 employees hold this title in William Howard Taft High Schoo. Median total compensation for the role is $138,829, above the department median of $123,826.
What the records show
How total compensation varies among the 11 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.
Compared with the local labor market
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. William Howard Taft High Schoo pays a median base salary of $105,240 for this role, 63% above that figure — about the 87th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
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 William Howard Taft High 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. William Howard Taft High Schoo’s median base salary is 64% above that national figure, above the 90th 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 William Howard Taft High Schoo is $138,829, 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
School Counselor is held in 517 Chicago Public Schools departments. In William Howard Taft High Schoo, the median of $138,829 ranks #233 of 517.
Median total compensation for the School Counselor 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 3 jurisdictions. In Chicago Public Schools, the median of $135,773 ranks #1 of 3. See School Counselor across all of Chicago Public Schools →
Median total compensation for comparable School Counselorroles 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
Page 1
School Counselor/William Howard Taft High Schoo
Source-specific fields
Karen Devine is a School Counselor at William Howard Taft High Schoo. 2026 total compensation came to $164,466.
School Counselor/William Howard Taft High Schoo
Source-specific fields
At William Howard Taft High Schoo, James Nicklas serves as a School Counselor. Their 2026 pay totaled $164,466.