BLS OEWS May 2025 · SOC 13-2051 · 20,520 IL workers
Financial Analyst Salary in Illinois 2026, $101,180 Median | BLS Data by City
Illinois has 45% more financial and investment analysts per worker than the US average — a concentration built on Chicago's derivatives exchanges, its trading and market-making firms, and the insurers and asset managers clustered along the North Shore. What it does not have is a state pay premium, and the reason is instructive.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by Douglas Whitfield, CPA, Finance Recruitment Lead · See methodology & sources →
IL Median
$101,180
$48.65/hr
vs National
−$1,560
1.5% below US median
IL P90
$166,090
$79.85/hr · top earners
IL Job Growth
+5.7%
2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34
🤑Illinois's flat 4.95% state income tax is unusually consequential for this occupation because analyst pay is so bonus-weighted at the top: an analyst at the Illinois 90th percentile of $166,090 pays the same marginal rate as one at the median of $101,180, which is a genuine advantage over the graduated schedules in New York, California or neighbouring Wisconsin. No Illinois municipality levies a wage tax, so Chicago-based compensation is not clipped at the city line the way it is in some competing financial centres. The $2,925 personal exemption allowance in 2026 is the only other moving part.
Direct Answer
How much do financial analysts make in Illinois in 2026?
Illinois financial analysts earn a median $101,180 a year, or $48.65 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, 1.5% below the $102,740 national median — a gap of $1,560. The Illinois range runs $64,700 at the 10th percentile to $166,090 at the 90th, with a 75th percentile of $128,620. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin leads the metro table at $101,750, followed by Rockford at $96,160, Kankakee at $84,370, Champaign-Urbana at $84,330 and Peoria at $83,500. → Full financial analyst career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $101,180 blends every experience level, apprentice through master. For pay by license level alone, see pay by level below.
Key takeaways
Illinois financial analysts earn a median $101,180/yr ($48.65/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 13-2051), 1.5% below the $102,740 national median; the state P10–P90 range is $64,700 to $166,090.
Illinois's location quotient of 1.45 puts analyst employment 45% above the national concentration, almost all of it in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin. Density that high does not produce a wage premium — it produces a deep market where the state median of $101,180 tracks the US figure closely.
The state's real story is the top of the distribution, not the middle. The $166,090 ninetieth percentile is where Chicago's trading firms, exchanges and asset managers sit, and much of that population's actual compensation is bonus, which OEWS does not capture.
Illinois issues no state licence for financial analysts. What gates the work is federal and private: FINRA registration through an employing broker-dealer for anyone in a securities-sales or research capacity, and the CFA charter as the dominant analytical credential in the Chicago investment market.
Illinois Financial Analyst Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
$64,700
P10
$78,430
P25
$101,180
Median
$128,620
P75
$166,090
P90
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Methodology & Sources
How the Illinois financial analyst pay figures on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-2051, Illinois statewide estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them. OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation in Illinois; it does not break pay out by credential or licence level.
Pay by level: the level and career-stage tables on this page distribute Illinois's own published BLS pay range across the tiers employers actually hire at. They are GlobalCybers estimates aligned to published percentiles, not separate BLS publications.
Placement sample: GlobalCybers holds no Illinois placement sample for this occupation, so this page shows published and percentile-aligned figures only — no placement-based median is claimed anywhere on it.
How to become a licensed financial analyst in Illinois, step by step
1
Get into the Chicago pipeline early
Corporate FP&A, insurance investment operations and bank rotational programmes are the Illinois entry routes, starting around the state 10th percentile of $64,700.
2
Register or certify as your seat requires
Illinois issues no analyst licence. If your role touches securities sales or research, your firm sponsors FINRA registration; otherwise begin the CFA programme, which is the credential the Chicago investment market actually reads.
3
Complete the CFA charter and own recommendations
Moving from producing analysis to owning investment or capital-allocation recommendations, charter in hand, is the Illinois move that reaches the state 75th percentile of $128,620.
4
Move to the buy side, research coverage or FP&A leadership
Portfolio work, sell-side coverage or heading FP&A at a Chicago-headquartered company is what reaches the Illinois 90th percentile of $166,090 — and adds a bonus component this wage figure does not include.
CFA License Levels
How much do the financial analyst credential levels pay in Illinois?
Illinois licenses issued by No state licence — Illinois does not license financial analysts and IDFPR issues no analyst credential. Where the role touches securities sales, research or advice, registration is federal and firm-sponsored under FINRA and SEC rules (Series 7, 63 or 65). The credential Chicago employers actually screen on is the CFA charter.. Each level's median pay in Illinois markets.
CFA License
IL Pay Range
IL Median
Key Note
Analyst, first two years
$60K–$78K
$64,700
Around the Illinois 10th percentile of $64,700. Corporate FP&A, insurance investment operations or a rotational programme at a Chicago bank, building models and reporting packs.
Financial analyst
$78K–$129K
$101,180
The Illinois median of $101,180. Owning a coverage area, a book of forecasts or a portfolio analytics function, most often in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin market.
Senior analyst or associate
$122K–$166K
$128,620
Around the Illinois 75th percentile of $128,620. CFA charter progress or completion, direct responsibility for investment or capital-allocation recommendations rather than only the analysis behind them.
Portfolio, research or FP&A lead
$159K–$203K
$166,090
The Illinois 90th percentile of $166,090. Buy-side portfolio work, sell-side research coverage, or heading FP&A at a Chicago-headquartered company — and typically with a bonus component OEWS does not record.
Beyond Base Pay
What's a Illinois financial analyst's total compensation, not just base wage?
BLS and verified-placement medians above are base wage only. Total comp for an IL financial analyst typically adds the following on top.
Illinois financial and investment analysts earn a median $101,180 a year, $48.65 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $78,430 and $128,620 and a full range of $64,700 to $166,090. That sits 1.5% below the $102,740 national median, despite Illinois having 45% more analysts per worker than the US average.
Which Illinois city pays financial analysts the most?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin at $101,750, then Rockford at $96,160, Kankakee at $84,370, Champaign-Urbana at $84,330 and Peoria at $83,500. The gap between Chicago and the downstate metros is close to twenty thousand dollars, which is one of the widest metro spreads for any professional occupation in Illinois.
Do financial analysts need a licence in Illinois?
Not a state one. Illinois has no board that licenses financial analysts and IDFPR issues no analyst credential. Where regulation applies it is federal: analysts working in a securities-sales, research or advisory capacity are registered through their employing broker-dealer or investment adviser under FINRA and SEC rules, with the Series 7, Series 63 or Series 65 examinations sponsored by the firm rather than by the state.
Is the CFA worth it in Chicago?
In this market it is the closest thing to a licence. Chicago's buy-side firms, insurers and asset managers treat the CFA charter as the standard analytical credential, and it is the most common differentiator between the Illinois median of $101,180 and the 75th percentile of $128,620. It carries less weight in corporate FP&A, where an MBA or direct sector experience does more.
How much of Chicago analyst pay does BLS actually capture?
Less than you would want at the top. OEWS records wages including commissions but is a poor instrument for the bonus-heavy structures common at Chicago trading firms and asset managers. The Illinois 90th percentile of $166,090 should be read as a wage ceiling for the surveyed population, not as total compensation for a senior investment professional in this city.
Why is Illinois analyst pay level with the nation despite Chicago?
Because concentration and price move in opposite directions here. A location quotient of 1.45 means Illinois supports far more analyst jobs per worker than the US average, and a deep supply of analysts trained by Chicago's universities and rotational programmes keeps the middle of the market competitive. The state median of $101,180 is what a very liquid labour market looks like — the premium shows up in the number of seats, not the price of one.
What is the honest caveat about this figure for a Chicago job seeker?
The gap between the Chicago metro figure of $101,750 and the downstate metros is enormous, and the state median blends them. If you are looking at Chicago roles, the metro number is the relevant anchor. And within Chicago, the distribution between a corporate FP&A analyst and a proprietary trading firm's research analyst is wider than anything on this page — same SOC code, very different market.
How does the Chicago bonus cycle change what these numbers mean?
Substantially, and unevenly. Base salary in Chicago investment roles is comparatively predictable, while the variable component is not, and it is settled once a year. Two analysts at the Illinois 75th percentile of $128,620 in wage terms can be far apart in total pay depending on whether they sit in insurance investment operations, which pays a modest bonus, or a trading firm, which does not pay a modest anything. Illinois's flat 4.95% tax at least makes the after-tax arithmetic on a variable payout simple.
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Outlook & openings: BLS projects 5.7% national growth for financial and investment analysts through 2034, and Illinois's 5.7% share of national employment works out to roughly 1,420 openings a year, pro-rated from the national average annual openings figure. Illinois's share of national analyst employment is far above its share of national employment overall, and the Chicago pipeline is distinctive: exchange and clearing infrastructure, proprietary trading and market making, insurance investment operations, and the corporate FP&A functions of the manufacturers and consumer companies headquartered here.
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