City of Chicago / Department of Water Management / Lead Accountant
Job-title file
Maintain financial records, prepare budgets and reports, and ensure compliance with fiscal rules.
1 employees hold this title in Department of Water Management. Median total compensation for the role is $129,636, above the department median of $108,576.
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. Department of Water Management pays a median base salary of $129,636 for this role, 57% above that figure — about the 88th 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 Department of Water Management’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. Department of Water Management’s median base salary is 55% above that national figure, about the 84th 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 Water Management is $129,636, 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 Department of Water Management, the median of $129,636 ranks #3 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
Page 1
Lead Accountant/Department of Water Management
Source-specific fields
Keisha Beatty works as a Lead Accountant for Department of Water Management. Their status is full-time. Keisha earned $129,636 in 2026.