School Counselor

Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.

858 people hold the School Counselor role across 517 departments in Chicago Public Schools, with a median total compensation of $135,773. Among 3 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Chicago Public Schools ranks #1 by median pay.

Employees: 858
Median pay: $135,773
Departments: 517
Cross-jurisdiction: #1 of 3

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. Chicago Public Schools pays a median base salary of $105,067 for this role, 62% above that figure — about the 87th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Chicago Public Schools sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$47,200

$52,200

$64,730

$84,760

$110,580

Chicago Public Schools median · $105,067

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 Chicago Public Schools’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. Chicago Public Schools’s median base salary is 63% above that national figure, above the 90th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$45,020

$51,270

$64,330

$82,870

$104,770

Chicago Public Schools median · $105,067

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 Chicago Public Schools is $135,773, 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 pay in other jurisdictions

Where School Counselors are paid most

City of Boston

$126,132 · 46

School District of Philadelphia

$97,852 · 389

Median total compensation for comparable School Counselorroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within Chicago Public Schools