City of Chicago / Department of Water Management / Microbiologist III
Job-title file
Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.
3 employees hold this title in Department of Water Management. Median total compensation for the role is $92,940, below 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 Microbiologists — about 1,240 people — is $100,620. Department of Water Management pays a median base salary of $86,358 for this role, 14% below that figure — about the 39th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Microbiologists 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 Microbiologists — about 18,940 people — is $87,990. Department of Water Management’s median base salary is 2% below that national figure, about the 48th 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 $86,358, 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 9 jurisdictions. In City of Chicago, the median of $86,358 ranks #2 of 9. See Microbiologist across all of City of Chicago →
Median total compensation for comparable Microbiologist 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
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Microbiologist III/Department of Water Management
Source-specific fields
Ursula Izewski holds the role of Microbiologist III at Department of Water Management. Their status is full-time. In 2026, their total compensation was $122,700.
Microbiologist III/Department of Water Management
Source-specific fields
Christopher Skobel is a Microbiologist III at Department of Water Management. They work full-time. 2026 total compensation came to $92,940.
Microbiologist III/Department of Water Management
Source-specific fields
Yesenia Vargas holds the role of Microbiologist III at Department of Water Management. Their status is full-time. In 2026, their total compensation was $88,524.