EMT Salary in Chicago, IL 2026, $44,020 Median | BLS + Market Data
EMT pay across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro, where the gap between private ambulance work and fire-based municipal employment is the widest single pay divide in the occupation.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by GlobalCybers Compliance Desk, Safety & compliance review · See methodology & sources →
Chicago Median
$44,020
$21.16/hr BLS
P75
$57,140
$27.47/hr
Sector Peak
$135,490
Metro P90
BLS Workers
5,610
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin MSA
vs IL Median
+$1,760
+4.2% above IL
Direct Answer
How much do emts make in Chicago, IL in 2026?
Chicago EMTs earn a BLS MSA median of $44,020/yr ($21.16/hr), 4.2% above the Illinois statewide median and 1% below the US figure. The metro band is extraordinary in shape: $39,750 at the 10th percentile, $57,140 at the 75th, and $135,490 at the 90th. That top decile reflects fire-based municipal employment, where EMTs and paramedics are sworn firefighters on a fire department pay scale rather than ambulance-service employees. → Full emt career guide, career path, IDPH licence, and Chicago job placement →
Key takeaways
Chicago emts earn a BLS MSA median of $44,020/yr ($21.16/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-2042, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin MSA), with a metro P10–P90 range of $39,750 to $135,490.
The Chicago EMT band is one of the most extreme in any occupation: the 90th percentile is more than three times the 10th.
That top decile is fire-based municipal employment, where EMS staff are on firefighter pay scales rather than ambulance-service ones.
Private ambulance and interfacility transfer work — the largest employer of EMTs locally — sits in the bottom half of the band.
Chicago EMT Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Chicago Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do Chicago emts earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended metro wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute this MSA's own published percentile range across the tiers Chicago employers actually hire at.
Level
MSA Median (BLS percentile-aligned)
EMT-Basic, entry
$39,750
Licensed EMT-Basic, 911 service
$44,020
Advanced EMT or critical-care transport
$57,140
Fire-based EMS / paramedic-firefighter
$135,490
Level medians are aligned to this metro's own published BLS OEWS May 2025 percentiles for SOC 29-2042; BLS does not publish a wage by credential level. GlobalCybers holds no verified placement sample for Chicago emts, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-2042, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN MSA. No verified placement data: GlobalCybers has no placement sample for Chicago emts, so every figure on this page is a published BLS estimate and no verified median is claimed. MSA sample size: an OEWS metro cell is drawn from a much smaller establishment sample than the statewide cell, so metro medians carry wider uncertainty and move more between releases. Where BLS suppresses or top-codes the metro wage for this occupation, this page reports the national figure and says so rather than asserting a Chicago median. Employer names mentioned on this page (e.g. in sector or FAQ copy) are illustrative examples of who hires in each market, not a claim of partnership. Full statewide methodology → · Full site methodology & data sources →
Full Data
How much do emts make in Chicago IL in 2026?
Metric
Value
Source
BLS MSA Median (Annual)
$44,020
BLS OEWS May 2025
BLS Median Hourly
$21.16/hr
BLS OEWS May 2025
P10 (Bottom 10%)
$39,750/yr · $19.11/hr
BLS OEWS
P25
$42,140/yr · $20.26/hr
BLS OEWS
P75
$57,140/yr · $27.47/hr
BLS OEWS
P90 (Top 10%)
$135,490/yr · $65.14/hr
BLS OEWS
vs Illinois Median
+$1,760 (+4.2%)
vs $42,260 IL
vs National Median
−$450 (−1%)
vs $44,470 US
Illinois State Income Tax
4.95%
Illinois Tax Code
Licensing Authority
IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Emergency Medical Services and Highway Safety)
State board
Reading this page's sources:BLS OEWS is the official published wage, sampled 1–2 years back. Market intelligence rows are directional signals from recruiter conversations and industry sources, not independently verified — treat them as a range, not a benchmark.
Chicago Sectors
Which Chicago sector pays emts the most?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for emts across the whole Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro and does not break it out by industry. The sectors below are ranked in the order Chicago employers actually pay, with each row anchored to this metro's own published percentile ladder (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-2042).
Sector
MSA Median
Notes
Fire-based municipal EMS
$135,490
Sworn fire department EMS personnel across the metro's municipalities sit at the $135,490 top of the published band, on firefighter rather than ambulance pay scales.
Hospital-based and specialty transport
$57,140
Hospital-based EMS and critical-care transport services sit around the $57,140 P75, well clear of routine ambulance work.
Private 911 contract ambulance services
$44,020
The typical Chicago EMT working for a private ambulance service under a municipal 911 contract sits at the $44,020 metro median.
Interfacility transfer and event medical
$42,140
Interfacility transfer, dialysis transport and event medical work cluster near the $42,140 P25, which is where most entry-level EMTs begin.
Real Take-Home
What is the actual take-home pay for a Chicago emt?
Real Chicago scenarios, line by line. Illinois withholds a flat percentage of wage income at every point of the band, from the $44,020 median up to the fire-based roles at the top. There is no Chicago city income tax. EMTs working overtime on private ambulance schedules should note that the flat rate applies to those hours identically, with no state-level progressivity.
Estimates only. Pre-tax deductions (401k, health premium) reduce taxable income further. Consult a tax professional.
Chicago EMTs earn a BLS MSA median of $44,020/yr, or $21.16/hr, with a published metro range of $39,750 to $135,490. That is 4.2% above the Illinois statewide median. The extreme top of that band is fire-based municipal employment; private ambulance work, which employs most EMTs locally, sits near the median.
Do emts earn more in Chicago than elsewhere in Illinois?
Yes, by 4.2%, though the metro figure is still marginally below the national one. Chicago's advantage over downstate Illinois comes from the density of municipal 911 contracts and hospital-based services rather than from higher private ambulance rates.
Why is the Chicago EMT pay range so wide?
Because two completely different employment models sit in the same occupational category. Private ambulance EMTs are paid hourly on service contracts and cluster between $39,750 and the metro median. Fire-based municipal EMS personnel are sworn firefighters on department pay scales with overtime, which is what produces a 90th percentile of $135,490.
Do fire departments pay EMTs more in Chicago?
Substantially. Fire-based EMS roles come with municipal pay scales, pension participation and overtime structures that private ambulance services do not offer, which is why they occupy the top decile of the published band. They are also far harder to enter, typically requiring a fire academy process rather than only EMS licensure.
What licence do Chicago EMTs need?
An Illinois EMT licence from the Illinois Department of Public Health's Division of Emergency Medical Services, obtained after an approved course and the national certification examination, and maintained through an EMS system that provides medical oversight. The licence is statewide, not city-issued.
Why this occupation has two pay worlds
EMS work in the Chicago metro is delivered by two kinds of employer with unrelated economics. Private ambulance services bid for municipal 911 and transfer contracts and pay hourly rates set by those contracts. Municipal fire departments employ EMS personnel as sworn staff on negotiated department scales with pensions and overtime. The BLS category covers both, which is why the published band spans more than a three-to-one ratio.
What this figure does not capture
Overtime is a large and routine part of income in both models — mandatory in private services short of staff, structured in fire departments — and the published wage reports base earnings. Pension value in municipal employment is entirely outside the estimate, and it is one of the largest real differences between the two career paths.
The paramedic-progression mechanic
The single move that most changes an EMT's earnings here is advancing to paramedic and, ideally, into a fire-based or hospital-based role. Paramedic training is a substantial commitment beyond EMT-Basic, but it is the prerequisite for almost everything above the metro median in this market. An EMT who stays at basic level on transfer work has very little published headroom.
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Outlook & openings: BLS projects EMT and paramedic employment to grow 5.1% nationally over 2024–2034; pro-rated by Chicago's share of national employment that is roughly 440 openings a year, taken from the national EP total rather than a Chicago-specific projection. (2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34, pro-rated to the metro)
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