Cook County, Illinois / Medical Examiner

Agency file

Medical Examiner

Source file: Cook County, Illinois — Employee Payroll / ingested Jun 19, 2026

The Medical Examiner oversees public health and medical services — disease prevention, clinics and hospitals, and health licensing and regulation.

In 2018, this agency had 109 employees with median total compensation of $14,955; the highest distinct record was $80,769.

Year: 2018
Total payroll: $2.2M
Employees: 109
Median total: $14,955
Highest record: $80,769

What the records show

Compensation analytics

These summaries compare pay within the agency before listing individual records.

Salary distribution

$967$61,413+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How 2018 total compensation is spread across the 109 employees. Each bar is a pay range; taller bars mean more people earn in that range. The amber line marks the median ($14,955) — half earn less, half more. The far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Average pay composition

Base — $20,438 (100%)
Overtime — $0 (0%)
Other — $0 (0%)
Benefits — $0 (0%)

What an average paycheck here is made of — base salary versus overtime, other pay (bonuses, allowances), and benefits. A large overtime or other-pay share means take-home often exceeds base salary.

Pay percentiles

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$11,151

$13,044

$14,955

$19,799

$54,280

The pay ladder for this department. Someone at the 90th percentile earns $54,280 — more than 90% of the department; the 10th percentile earns $11,151. The shaded band is the middle half of employees (25th–75th percentile).

Largest job titles

Investigator I

13 · $14,337

Autopsy Technician II

13 · $14,205

Morgue Attendant I

11 · $13,372

Assistant Medical Examiner II E8

9 · $59,028

Investigator III

5 · $20,661

The most common job titles in this department by headcount, with the median total compensation for each. Click a title to see everyone who holds it.

Trend

Year over year

How this department's total payroll, headcount, and median pay changed across the 3 published years.

Year	Total payroll	Employees	Median pay
2016	$2.5M —	143 —	$13,841 —
2017	$2.4M ▼ 4.1%	134 ▼ 6.3%	$14,321 ▲ 3.5%
2018	$2.2M ▼ 7.0%	109 ▼ 18.7%	$14,955 ▲ 4.4%

Compare

Similar departments

Departments elsewhere with the most similar mix of roles — a proxy for the same kind of agency, matched by workforce composition rather than name. Pay is not cost-of-living adjusted.

Dcpc District of Columbia41% match
State Board of Veterinary Medical Examin Texas40% match
Civilian Complaint Review Bd New York City37% match

Record list

Employees

Page 1

Ariel Goldschmidt

Assistant Medical Examiner II E8/Medical Examiner

2016 total comp

$50,307

Base pay: $50,307
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $50,307
Hire date: 2010-08-16

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: 8c9e3b96-26fa-4c8f-9eb1-70ab45dd8b97
Fiscal Period: 2016Q1
Fiscal Quarter: 1
Job Code: 5921
Office: 1259
Position Id: 9511154

Ariel Goldschmidt works as a Assistant Medical Examiner II E8 for Medical Examiner. Hired in 2010, they have about 6 years of service. Ariel earned $50,307 in 2016.

Latanja Watkins

Assistant Medical Examiner II E8/Medical Examiner

2017 total comp

$49,940

Base pay: $49,940
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $49,940
Hire date: 2013-07-01
Middle name: M

Source-specific fields

Employee Identifier: dde10564-023b-4908-9f77-e786d367620a
Fiscal Period: 2017Q3
Fiscal Quarter: 3
Job Code: 5921
Office: 1259
Position Id: 9511185

At Medical Examiner, Latanja Watkins serves as a Assistant Medical Examiner II E8. Their tenure dates to 2013, about 4 years. Their 2017 pay totaled $49,940.