Here's how your pay measures up
Study checks it out, from anesthesiologist to dishwasher
It's something to contemplate in the anxious minutes before surgery -- your anesthesiologist makes six times more than your clergyman and 12 times more than your bartender. At $307,629 a year for an average salary in the Chicago area, anesthesiologists were among the best paid of Chicago workers, according to a sample of Chicago area jobs and pay conducted by ERI Economic Research Institute, based in Redmond, Wash.
ERI provides geographic-specific salary survey data to thousands of annual subscribers worldwide.
In contrast, the average clergyman makes $49,810, and the average bartender $24,079.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)
Among the lowest-paid jobs surveyed are dishwashers, bartenders, waiters and cashiers. These lower-paid workers likely will see pay increases of less than 2 percent next year, according to the survey.
Salary is an incomplete picture of a job's costs and benefits. Allan Klock, 42, an anesthesiologist at the University of Chicago Hospitals, said he pays $65,000 a year in malpractice insurance. The job also requires an enormous investment in education -- Klock has a friend who owes $300,000 in school loans.
"It's quite common," said Klock of high debt loads.
The rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in the Irving Park neighborhood makes $37,100. But that comes with the use of the rectory, paid utilities, a pension, and the joy of organizing the nativity play, said the Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer, 37. With these benefits comes a lot of responsibility -- Wagner Sherer is almost always on call. And she always works Sundays and Christmas.
The survey looked at workers who had a medium level of experience -- which varies depending on the job. A dishwasher for two years was considered, for the purposes of the survey, to be at the same level of experience as a draftsman with six to eight years of experience.
Average salaries for Chicagoans tend to be around 6 percent to 8 percent higher than the national U.S. average. The exceptions are in two areas: the building trades, where salaries are 15 percent or more higher; and in food services, where salaries average 12 percent to 13 percent more.
Linda Lampkin, research director at ERI, said one surprise of the survey was the relatively low salaries in the building trades. "Knowing the difficulty of getting anyone to do something for you, supply and demand don't seem to be working that well," Lampkin said.
The median family income in the Chicago area was $69,900 last year, compared with $59,600 for the nation. Chicagoans need that extra money -- the cost of living in the Chicago area is 27 percent higher than the rest of the nation, Lampkin said.
ERI expects that the biggest pay raises in the next year will go to the bosses -- executive pay is projected to rise almost 9 percent in 2007.
| Job title | Avg. salary | Chicago wage increase prospects |
| Commercial pilot (jet) | $110,957 | A |
| Purchasing manager | $80,477 | A |
| Real estate sales agent | $44,023 | A |
| Anesthesiologist | $307,629 | A |
| Camera operator, TV, video, motion picture | $38,871 | A |
| Surgeon | $295,583 | A |
| Financial manager | $63,817 | A |
| Financial sales rep. | $52,452 | A |
| Marriage and family therapist | $48,402 | A |
| Choreographer | $37,976 | A |
| Psychologist | $78,410 | A |
| Construction manager (superintendent) | $100,868 | A |
| Nuclear medicine technologist | $62,419 | A |
| Pharmacist | $100,513 | A |
| Loan officer | $60,404 | A |
| Social worker | $50,686 | A |
| Music teacher | $50,260 | A |
| Computer and info. scientist, research | $72,457 | A |
| Biochemist and biophysicist | $77,987 | B |
| Biomedical engineer | $77,499 | B |
| Registered nurse | $60,869 | B |
| Counselor | $54,313 | B |
| Funeral manager | $49,952 | B |
| Podiatrist | $156,188 | B |
| Chef | $52,557 | B |
| Clergy | $49,810 | B |
| Financial analyst | $68,460 | B |
| Insurance sales agent | $48,475 | B |
| Zoologist and wildlife biologist | $47,952 | B |
| Astronomer | $121,435 | B |
| Budget analyst | $54,072 | B |
| General practitioner M.D. | $168,987 | B |
| Health and safety engineer | $70,436 | B |
| Certified public accountant | $67,376 | C |
| Microbiologist | $69,394 | C |
| Political scientist | $60,408 | C |
| Sociologist | $62,724 | C |
| Architect | $72,198 | C |
| Dentist | $143,655 | C |
| Electrical engineer | $80,675 | C |
| Math. statistician | $75,978 | C |
| Purchasing agent | $44,869 | C |
| Sales manufacturers rep. | $47,824 | C |
| Substance abuse counselor | $45,198 | C |
| Software engineer | $85,254 | C |
| Civil engineer | $67,329 | C |
| Law clerk | $42,874 | C |
| Veterinary technologist and technician | $29,289 | C |
| Chemist | $65,254 | C |
| P.R. coordinator | $51,401 | C |
| Firefighter | $41,065 | C |
| Librarian | $53,783 | C |
| Police officer | $55,539 | C |
| Database administrator | $86,183 | C |
| Electrical instrument repairer | $45,183 | C |
| Environmental engineer | $67,248 | C |
| Hydrologist | $71,329 | C |
| Septic tank servicer | $44,714 | C |
| Mathematician | $71,432 | C |
| $60,505 | C | |
| Broadcast news analyst (journalist) | $31,868 | C |
| Economist | $90,810 | C |
| Executive assistant | $58,284 | C |
| Forensic science tech. | $48,556 | C |
| Geographer | $66,225 | C |
| Historian | $49,330 | C |
| Interpreter and translator | $40,289 | C |
| Security guard | $30,743 | D |
| Meeting/convention planner | $71,757 | D |
| Taxi driver | $27,513 | D |
| Human resource specialist | $55,491 | D |
| Bookkeeping, accounting clerk | $34,698 | D |
| Paralegal | $52,157 | D |
| Chiropractor | $105,063 | D |
| Tax examiner, collectors agent | $67,407 | D |
| Chemical engineer | $77,629 | D |
| Commercial designer | $51,388 | D |
| Drafter (Level 3) | $50,087 | D |
| Physical therapist | $64,344 | D |
| Courier, messenger | $24,751 | D |
| Forester | $52,841 | D |
| Machinist, computer-aided | $38,213 | D |
| Interior designer | $50,784 | D |
| Social services aide | $29,175 | D |
| Fitness & health supervisor | $65,097 | D |
| Receptionist | $28,274 | D |
| Carpenter (journeyman) | $43,871 | F |
| Cashier (retail) | $23,824 | F |
| Desk clerk (hotel) | $24,495 | F |
| Computer programmer (mid-range) | $75,699 | F |
| Physicist (Ph.D.) | $102,564 | F |
| Dental hygienist | $60,342 | F |
| Roofer | $39,771 | F |
| Bartender | $24,079 | F |
| Computer support specialist | $52,014 | F |
| Electrician (journeyman) | $59,782 | F |
| Cement mason (journeyman) | $45,160 | F |
| Construction equipment operator (paving) | $50,947 | F |
| Waiter/waitress | $22,266 | F |
| Construction laborer | $31,472 | F |
| Dishwasher | $21,182 | F |
| Public health worker (aide) | $26,294 | F |
| Environmental technician | $49,410 | F |
| Environmental engineering technician | $29,490 | F |
| Desktop publisher | $38,828 | F |
| Broadcast technician (television) | $40,162 | F |
| Brickmason (journeyman) | $51,191 | F |
| Epidemiologist | $85,640 | F |
| Claims examiner | $34,596 | F |
