City of Chicago / Department of Planning and Development / Assistant Commissioner
Job-title file
Assistant Commissioner
Lead staff and operations — set priorities, allocate resources, and oversee program delivery.
11 employees hold this title in Department of Planning and Development. Median total compensation for the role is $153,384, above the department median of $101,664.
- Employees
- 11
- Total payroll
- $1.6M
- Role median
- $153,384
- Agency median
- $101,664
- Comparison
- Above
What the records show
Role pay distribution
Pay distribution for this role
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
Assistant Commissioner pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 3,610 people — is $344,960. Department of Planning and Development pays a median base salary of $153,384 for this role, 56% below that figure — about the 13th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Planning and Development sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Chief Executives 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 Department of Planning and Development’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 204,350 people — is $213,990. Department of Planning and Development’s median base salary is 28% below that national figure, about the 32nd 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 Department of Planning and Development is $153,384, 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
This role across City of Chicago
Assistant Commissioner is held in 12 City of Chicago departments. In Department of Planning and Development, the median of $153,384 ranks #2 of 12.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Assistant Commissioner role in other City of Chicagodepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
Assistant Commissioner beyond City of Chicago
This role is reported in 2 jurisdictions. In City of Chicago, the median of $153,384 ranks #1 of 2. See Assistant Commissioner across all of City of Chicago →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Assistant Commissionerroles 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
Employees with this title
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