City of Chicago / Chicago Department of Aviation / Mechanical Engineer V
Job-title file
Design, analyze, and oversee technical systems or infrastructure, ensuring they meet specifications and codes.
1 employees hold this title in Chicago Department of Aviation. Median total compensation for the role is $126,756, above the department median of $101,358.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Mechanical Engineers — about 6,900 people — is $102,070. Chicago Department of Aviation pays a median base salary of $126,756 for this role, 24% above that figure — about the 72nd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Mechanical Engineers 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 Department of Aviation’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Mechanical Engineers — about 296,810 people — is $104,110. Chicago Department of Aviation’s median base salary is 22% above that national figure, about the 70th 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 Chicago Department of Aviation is $126,756, 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
This role is reported in 6 jurisdictions. In City of Chicago, the median of $109,848 ranks #5 of 6. See Mechanical Engineer across all of City of Chicago →
Median total compensation for comparable Mechanical Engineerroles 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
Mechanical Engineer V/Chicago Department of Aviation
Source-specific fields
Karl Watson is a Mechanical Engineer V at Chicago Department of Aviation. They work full-time. 2026 total compensation came to $126,756.