City of Chicago / Department of Water Management / Mechanical Engineer IV
Job-title file
Design, analyze, and oversee technical systems or infrastructure, ensuring they meet specifications and codes.
2 employees hold this title in Department of Water Management. Median total compensation for the role is $143,862, 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 Mechanical Engineers — about 6,900 people — is $102,070. Department of Water Management pays a median base salary of $92,940 for this role, 9% below that figure — about the 38th 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 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 Mechanical Engineers — about 296,810 people — is $104,110. Department of Water Management’s median base salary is 11% below that national figure, about the 36th 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 $92,940, 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 Engineer roles 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 IV/Department of Water Management
Source-specific fields
Sandino Zotta is a Mechanical Engineer IV at Department of Water Management. They work full-time. 2026 total compensation came to $146,160.
Mechanical Engineer IV/Department of Water Management
Source-specific fields
Bruce Savage works as a Mechanical Engineer IV for Department of Water Management. Their status is full-time. Bruce earned $141,564 in 2026.