Lead Accountant

Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 41,360 people — is $82,360. Chicago Department of Aviation pays a median base salary of $122,928 for this role, 49% above that figure — about the 85th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Median total compensation for this role at Chicago Department of Aviation is $122,928, 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.

Lead Accountant is held in 7 City of Chicago departments. In Chicago Department of Aviation, the median of $122,928 ranks #4 of 7.