City of Chicago / Chicago Department of Transportation / Lead Accountant
Job-title file
Maintain financial records, prepare budgets and reports, and ensure compliance with fiscal rules.
2 employees hold this title in Chicago Department of Transportation. Median total compensation for the role is $115,668, above the department median of $106,912.
Compared with the local labor market
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 Transportation pays a median base salary of $115,668 for this role, 40% above that figure — about the 81st percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Accountants and Auditors 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 Transportation’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Accountants and Auditors — about 1,449,500 people — is $83,680. Chicago Department of Transportation’s median base salary is 38% above that national figure, about the 78th 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 Transportation is $115,668, 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
Lead Accountant is held in 7 City of Chicago departments. In Chicago Department of Transportation, the median of $115,668 ranks #6 of 7.
Median total compensation for the Lead Accountant role in other City of Chicagodepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Record list
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Lead Accountant/Chicago Department of Transportation
Source-specific fields
Eboni Hagans is a Lead Accountant at Chicago Department of Transportation. They work full-time. 2026 total compensation came to $133,848.
Lead Accountant/Chicago Department of Transportation
Source-specific fields
Bernard Sullivan Iii is a Lead Accountant at Chicago Department of Transportation. They work full-time. 2026 total compensation came to $97,488.