BLS OEWS May 2025 · SOC 17-2141 · 11,790 IL workers
Mechanical Engineer Salary in Illinois 2026, $102,680 Median | BLS Data by City
Peoria pays mechanical engineers twenty-six thousand dollars more than Chicago does, and that single fact explains Illinois mechanical engineering better than any statewide average. This is a heavy-equipment state, and its highest-value mechanical work sits downstate with the machines, not in the Loop.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by Anita Rao, PE (Civil), Technical Recruitment Lead · See methodology & sources →
IL Median
$102,680
$49.37/hr
vs National
−$1,430
1.4% below US median
IL P90
$160,160
$77.00/hr · top earners
IL Job Growth
+9.1%
2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34
🤑Illinois's flat 4.95% state income tax means an engineer weighing a Peoria offer at $128,710 against a Chicago one at $102,070 has no tax adjustment to make — the comparison is purely cost of living, and Peoria wins that decisively. No Illinois municipality levies a wage tax. For consulting mechanical engineers who own a practice, Illinois's pass-through entity tax election is the planning feature to know; for the salaried majority in this occupation, the flat rate and the $2,925 personal exemption allowance in 2026 are the whole story.
Direct Answer
How much do mechanical engineers make in Illinois in 2026?
Illinois mechanical engineers earn a median $102,680 a year, or $49.37 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, 1.4% below the $104,110 national median. The Illinois range runs $72,150 at the 10th percentile to $160,160 at the 90th, with a 25th percentile of $83,800 and a 75th of $130,730. Peoria dominates the metro table at $128,710, far ahead of Chicago-Naperville-Elgin at $102,070, Champaign-Urbana at $101,090, Bloomington at $100,500 and Rockford at $99,150. → Full mechanical engineer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $102,680 blends every experience level, apprentice through master. For pay by license level alone, see pay by level below.
Key takeaways
Illinois mechanical engineers earn a median $102,680/yr ($49.37/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 17-2141), 1.4% below the $104,110 national median; the state P10–P90 range is $72,150 to $160,160.
Peoria at $128,710 is more than twenty-six thousand dollars ahead of Chicago-Naperville-Elgin at $102,070 — an inversion driven by heavy-equipment product engineering, which pays product-development rates in a low-cost metro.
Outside Peoria the Illinois table is extremely flat: Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington and Rockford all sit within three thousand dollars. Mechanical engineering pay in Illinois is set by industry, not geography.
Most Illinois mechanical engineers never obtain a PE licence, because the industrial exemption covers manufacturing product work. The PE from the IDFPR Board of Professional Engineers becomes necessary in building systems, pressure equipment and public-works design — a genuine fork in the Illinois career path.
Illinois at a glance
Median salary$102,680
Median hourly$49.37
Range (P10–P90)$72,150–$160,160
Top-paying metroPeoria · $128,710
vs national1.4% below
State income tax4.95%
IL employment (BLS)11,790
Location quotient1.01× US concentration
Wage basisBLS OEWS May 2025, Illinois
Illinois Mechanical Engineer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
$72,150
P10
$83,800
P25
$102,680
Median
$130,730
P75
$160,160
P90
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Methodology & Sources
How the Illinois mechanical engineer pay figures on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-2141, 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 mechanical engineer in Illinois, step by step
1
Start in design support, test or plant engineering
The Illinois entry route runs through a downstate manufacturer or a Chicago-area MEP consultancy at around the state 10th percentile of $72,150.
2
Decide early whether you need the Illinois PE
Manufacturing product work is covered by the industrial exemption; buildings, pressure systems and public works are not. If you are on the buildings side, take the FE and pursue the IDFPR Professional Engineer licence without delay.
3
Take technical ownership of a product line or full mechanical scope
Owning a product line downstate, or the complete mechanical scope of a project in the Chicago region, is the Illinois move that reaches the state 75th percentile of $130,730.
4
Move into principal engineering or engineering management
Leading an engineering group or a heavy-equipment product programme reaches the Illinois 90th percentile of $160,160.
IDFPR License Levels
How much do the mechanical engineer credential levels pay in Illinois?
Illinois licenses issued by Illinois Professional Engineer licence (IDFPR Board of Professional Engineers), but only where it is needed — most Illinois mechanical engineers work under the industrial exemption and never license at all. Where a mechanical engineer seals building systems, pressure equipment or public-works designs, the PE is required, and the route is an ABET-accredited degree, the Fundamentals of Engineering examination, qualifying experience and the Principles and Practice examination.. Each level's median pay in Illinois markets.
IDFPR License
IL Pay Range
IL Median
Key Note
Entry mechanical engineer
$66K–$84K
$72,150
Around the Illinois 10th percentile of $72,150. Design support, test and validation, or plant engineering — most often at a downstate manufacturer or a Chicago-area MEP consultancy.
Mechanical engineer
$84K–$131K
$102,680
The Illinois median of $102,680. Owning component or system design, or running mechanical scope on building and process projects.
Senior or lead engineer
$124K–$160K
$130,730
Around the Illinois 75th percentile of $130,730. Technical ownership of a product line or a project's full mechanical scope — the Peoria metro median of $128,710 sits in this band, which is the point about downstate Illinois.
Principal engineer or engineering manager
$154K–$195K
$160,160
The Illinois 90th percentile of $160,160. Managing an engineering group, holding principal technical authority, or leading product development for a heavy-equipment programme.
Beyond Base Pay
What's a Illinois mechanical engineer's total compensation, not just base wage?
BLS and verified-placement medians above are base wage only. Total comp for an IL mechanical engineer typically adds the following on top.
How much do mechanical engineers make in Illinois?
Illinois mechanical engineers earn a median $102,680 a year, $49.37 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $83,800 and $130,730 and a full range of $72,150 to $160,160. That is 1.4% below the $104,110 national median, effectively level with the US market.
Which Illinois city pays mechanical engineers the most?
Peoria at $128,710, by a very large margin over Chicago-Naperville-Elgin at $102,070, Champaign-Urbana at $101,090, Bloomington at $100,500 and Rockford at $99,150. Peoria's heavy-equipment product engineering base pays development-level rates, and the rest of the state table is within about three thousand dollars end to end.
Do mechanical engineers need a PE licence in Illinois?
Usually not. Illinois's industrial exemption means engineers designing products for a manufacturer do not need a licence, which is why most mechanical engineers in this state never sit the exams. The Illinois PE from the Board of Professional Engineers at IDFPR is required where you seal designs for buildings, pressure systems or public works — the MEP consulting side of the profession rather than the manufacturing side.
Is Peoria a good market for mechanical engineers?
On the numbers, it is the best in Illinois. A metro median of $128,710 against Chicago's $102,070, in a housing market a fraction of the Chicago collar counties' cost, and with the same flat 4.95% state tax applying in both. The caveat is concentration: downstate Illinois mechanical engineering leans on a small number of very large employers, so the market is excellent while the product cycle is strong and thin when it is not.
What kind of mechanical engineering does Chicago actually have?
Building systems and process work rather than product development. The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin figure of $102,070 is set largely by MEP consulting engineers designing HVAC and plumbing systems, by food and consumer-goods process engineers, and by the mechanical scope of the data-centre construction wave across the collar counties. It is licence-relevant work, which is where the Illinois PE actually matters.
Why does a downstate metro outpay Chicago by twenty-six thousand dollars?
Because product engineering and building-systems engineering are different markets that share a SOC code. Heavy-equipment product development in Peoria is benchmarked against global engineering organisations and carries senior technical grades; MEP consulting in Chicago is priced against competitively bid fee schedules. The occupation is identical on paper and the pay structures are not remotely alike.
What is the honest caveat about the Illinois mechanical engineering figure?
It averages a very high downstate product-engineering population with a much larger, flatter Chicago-region consulting and plant-engineering population, and lands close to the national median as a result. Neither market actually experiences $102,680 as its centre of gravity. Pick the metro row that matches your work rather than the state median.
How does the industrial exemption change the Illinois career path?
It splits it in two early. An engineer on the manufacturing side can reach the Illinois 90th percentile of $160,160 through technical grade progression and engineering management without ever holding a licence. An engineer on the buildings side hits a hard ceiling without the PE, because they cannot seal drawings — for them the licence is not a differentiator but a prerequisite, and it should be pursued as soon as the experience requirement allows.
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Outlook & openings: BLS projects 9.1% national growth for mechanical engineers through 2034, and Illinois's 4.0% share of national employment works out to roughly 720 openings a year, pro-rated from the national average annual openings figure. Illinois demand is bifurcated: downstate it follows the heavy-equipment and agricultural machinery product cycle, including the electrification and emissions work reshaping those product lines, while in the Chicago region it follows building systems, food and consumer-goods process engineering, and the mechanical scope of data centre construction across the collar counties.
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