Comptroller

Source file: Illinois — State Employee Pay / ingested Jun 18, 2026

The Comptroller manages public finances — collecting revenue and taxes, budgeting, accounting, and financial oversight.

In 2025, this agency had 16 employees with median total compensation of $142,700; the highest distinct record was $202,500.

Year: 2025
Total payroll: $2M
Employees: 16
Median total: $142,700
Highest record: $202,500

What the records show

Compensation analytics

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

Salary distribution

$9,400$202,500+

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

How 2025 total compensation is spread across the 16 employees. Each bar is a pay range; taller bars mean more people earn in that range. The amber line marks the median ($142,700) — half earn less, half more. The far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Average pay composition

Base — $0 (0%)
Overtime — $0 (0%)
Other — $123,388 (100%)
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

$21,400

$86,200

$142,700

$184,700

$202,500

The pay ladder for this department. Someone at the 90th percentile earns $202,500 — more than 90% of the department; the 10th percentile earns $21,400. The shaded band is the middle half of employees (25th–75th percentile).

Largest job titles

Public Service Administrator

2 · $80,750

Dir-Environmental Prot Agency

1 · $202,500

Secretary of the Superinten of Lottery

1 · $202,500

Secretary of Innovation & Technology

1 · $195,400

Director Juvenile Justice

1 · $185,600

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
2023	$1.8M —	13 —	$163,900 —
2024	$1.5M ▼ 14.7%	20 ▲ 53.8%	$82,050 ▼ 49.9%
2025	$2M ▲ 28.3%	16 ▼ 20.0%	$142,700 ▲ 73.9%

Record list

Employees

Page 1

Debjani Desai

Chief Legal Counsel/Comptroller

2023 total comp

$79,600

Sub-department: Comptroller Operations
Base pay: $0
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $79,600
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $79,600
Union / bargaining unit: Merit Compensation
Work county: Cook

Source-specific fields

4-D Exempt: Yes
Employment Status: CERTIFIED
Period Pay Rate: $5,800
Rutan Exempt: No

Debjani Desai works as a Chief Legal Counsel for Comptroller within Comptroller Operations. Debjani earned $79,600 in 2023. Union affiliation: Merit Compensation.