Compared with the local labor market
Project Director pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Managers, All Other — about 26,170 people — is $145,370. Planning & Development pays a median base salary of $26,541 for this role, 82% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Planning & Development sits in the local pay range
$83,320
$109,590
$145,370
$189,350
$239,340
Planning & Development median · $26,541
The bar is the range of annual wages for Managers, All Other 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 Planning & Development’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Managers, All Other — about 622,190 people — is $141,900. Planning & Development’s median base salary is 81% below that national figure, below the 10th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$74,300
$102,880
$141,900
$186,300
$238,270
Planning & Development median · $26,541
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.
Computed over the 3 of 4 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Planning & Development is $25,771, 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 Cook County, Illinois
Project Director is held in 3 Cook County, Illinois departments. In Planning & Development, the median of $25,771 ranks #2 of 3.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Project Director role in other Cook County, Illinoisdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
Project Director beyond Cook County, Illinois
This role is reported in 7 jurisdictions. In Cook County, Illinois, the median of $24,146 ranks #7 of 7. See Project Director across all of Cook County, Illinois →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Project Directorroles 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.