Data Scientist Salary in Chicago — 2026 BLS Data

$113K median base salary · Chicago
BLS OEWS · 2024 data

Salary distribution

Percentile breakdown of Data Scientist base salaries in Chicago.

The BLS OEWS May 2024 release puts the median annual wage for data scientists in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area at roughly $112,640 — nearly identical to the national median of $112,590. That proximity to the national average is the first thing worth interrogating, because Chicago is emphatically not a median market. It is home to CME Group, Morningstar, Allstate, United Airlines, Ferrara, Kraft Heinz, and a dense second-tier of fintech, healthtech, and algorithmic trading firms that pay well above that number. A $113K median is the average of a highly bifurcated market, not a reliable guide to what any specific offer should look like.

How Chicago data scientist salaries break down by percentile

BLS OEWS data for SOC code 15-2051 (Data Scientists) in the Chicago metro for May 2024 shows:

PercentileAnnual Base Salary
25th (P25)$82,000
50th (Median)$113,000
75th (P75)$147,000
90th (P90)$175,000

The P25-to-P90 range spans roughly $93,000 — a 2.1x multiple from bottom to top. That is wide even by tech standards, and it reflects two populations that should not be averaged together: junior analysts carrying a “data scientist” title at a regional insurer or consulting firm, and senior ML engineers at a fintech or trading shop running production models at scale. Before using any of these numbers to evaluate an offer, identify which population your role actually belongs to.

What the median hides

$113,000 as a Chicago DS median tells you almost nothing useful by itself. Several structural factors make this market far more stratified than the aggregate suggests.

Domain matters more here than in other tech hubs. Chicago’s economy is weighted toward finance, insurance, logistics, and healthcare — not consumer tech. A DS role at a prop trading firm like DRW, Citadel, or Jump Trading operates under a different compensation framework than a DS role at a hospital system or a packaged goods company. Finance and trading roles routinely pay 30–60% above the BLS median for comparable seniority. Healthcare analytics and CPG data science roles often cluster at or below the median, sometimes with strong benefits packages that offset lower cash.

The startup ecosystem is smaller and younger than Austin, Seattle, or the Bay Area. Chicago has a growing Series A–C tech scene (G2, Outcomes.com, Avant, Brex’s analytics arm), but the volume of high-equity early-stage DS jobs is lower per capita than in the major coasts. Series B startup DS compensation in Chicago typically runs $130K–$160K base with equity that is genuinely valuable but not the dominant component of the package.

Senior and staff roles compress at the top compared to coastal markets. The BLS P90 of $175K is a real ceiling for most non-trading employers in the city. In San Francisco or New York, a staff data scientist can exceed $250K in base alone. Chicago’s P90 sits roughly 27% below San Francisco’s equivalent and about 15% below New York’s. That gap narrows considerably when you apply cost-of-living math, but it is real.

How Chicago compares to other data science hubs

Across major US data science markets, Chicago occupies a well-defined middle tier:

  • San Francisco Bay Area — BLS median near $156K, Levels.fyi total comp medians around $215K for all levels. The dominant market for pure tech and AI/ML roles.
  • New York City — BLS median around $140K. Finance-sector DS roles (Two Sigma, Citadel’s NY office, Bloomberg) push senior comp into $200K–$300K territory.
  • Seattle — BLS median around $138K. Amazon and Microsoft ML roles anchor the top end; Amazon L5–L6 DS bands reach $220K–$280K total comp.
  • Chicago — BLS median $113K base. Trading-firm DS roles compete with New York on total cash; broader market median is meaningfully lower.
  • Austin — BLS median around $155K, pulled up by Tesla and FAANG satellite offices. COL-adjusted, the gap between Austin and Chicago narrows.
  • Remote-US — National bands vary $110K–$190K depending on company and seniority. Chicago-based candidates at remote-first companies often negotiate to national bands rather than Chicago geo bands.

Chicago trails San Francisco by 28% on median base, but Chicago’s cost-of-living index of 106 (versus San Francisco’s 178.6) means the after-expenses gap is far smaller. At the median, a Chicago DS earning $113K has materially better purchasing power than the gross number implies relative to coastal peers.

What drives the spread: company tier, level, and specialty

Three variables predict where inside the Chicago DS salary distribution any given role will land.

Company tier. At the top sit the proprietary trading firms — Citadel, DRW, Jump Trading, Akuna Capital, and a cluster of smaller quant shops on the LaSalle Street corridor. These firms do not recruit from the same candidate pool as typical tech companies and often pay total compensation that rivals FAANG: a mid-level quant DS role at a Chicago prop firm can reach $200K–$350K in base plus bonus, with bonuses that are discretionary and can exceed base in strong years. For the rest of the market, the tiers break down roughly as: large financial services and insurance (Allstate, Morningstar, CME Group, Northern Trust) at $120K–$165K mid-level; enterprise tech and cloud (Salesforce Chicago, Relativity, Sprinklr) at $135K–$175K; healthcare and life sciences (AbbVie, Baxter, Northwestern Medicine) at $100K–$145K; CPG and retail (Kraft Heinz, US Foods, McDonald’s corporate) at $95K–$135K; startups Series B and later at $130K–$165K.

Level. The BLS data collapses all experience levels into one occupational code, which is why the percentile spread is wide. In practice:

  • Entry-level DS (0–2 years, individual contributor): $78K–$100K base
  • Mid-level DS (3–5 years): $105K–$140K base
  • Senior DS (6–10 years): $140K–$175K base
  • Staff/Principal DS (10+ years, cross-team influence): $175K–$230K at financial and tech employers; $150K–$195K at more traditional corporate employers

Specialty premium. Not all data science work commands the same rate in Chicago. ML engineering (model deployment, MLOps, production systems) runs 15–25% above pure analytics or reporting-oriented DS work at the same seniority. NLP and large-language-model experience carries a current premium of 20–30% at employers actively building AI products. Time-series modeling and risk quantification are specific skills that the financial sector in Chicago pays a structural premium for — DS candidates who can credibly demonstrate these skills in financial-services interviews have a real pricing edge.

Total compensation: base, bonus, and equity

The BLS tracks base wages only. For a representative mid-level Chicago DS at a public company (financial services, enterprise tech, or healthcare), a realistic 2026 offer structure looks like:

  • Base salary: $113,000. This anchors the package and is the number most employers and candidates focus on. At senior levels, base ranges from $140K–$175K.
  • Annual cash bonus: $13,000 (10–12% of base is the typical target for non-trading employers; a $120K base at an insurance company yielding a 12% bonus lands at $14,400). Financial services and trading firms structure this differently — trading-desk bonuses are discretionary and can be 50–100%+ of base in strong years.
  • Annualized equity: $20,000. Chicago DS roles at public tech companies and financial firms that grant RSUs typically offer $60K–$100K four-year grants at mid-level, which translates to $15K–$25K annualized. Startup equity is harder to value; pre-Series D grants can be meaningful but should not be counted as certain income.

That produces a total comp of approximately $146,000 for a typical mid-level DS at a mainstream Chicago employer — aligned with Levels.fyi’s reported median total comp for the Chicago area of $145,000. Senior DS roles at strong employers clear $180K–$220K total comp. Trading firms sit apart from this model entirely; a DS at DRW or Citadel securities might see $250K–$450K total comp once the bonus is realized.

Signing bonuses in Chicago typically run $10,000–$25,000 at mid-level, $20,000–$50,000 for senior roles. Healthcare and CPG employers often offer more modest signing packages than financial services and tech.

COL-adjusted purchasing power

Chicago’s cost-of-living index of 106 means the city runs about 6% above the US national average, primarily driven by housing and city/state tax burden — Illinois has a flat 4.95% state income tax, and Cook County property taxes are among the highest in the Midwest. That said, Chicago is substantially more affordable than the major coastal markets.

The purchasing power comparison:

  • A $113,000 Chicago base, COL-adjusted to the US average (index 100), is worth approximately $107,000 in real terms. That is meaningfully more purchasing power than the same income in San Francisco or New York, but slightly less than the same income in, say, Indianapolis or Columbus.
  • A $175,000 Chicago P90 base COL-adjusted is worth approximately $165,000 nationally — still a strong position.
  • A $113,000 Chicago base versus $156,000 San Francisco base: COL-adjusted, Chicago’s $113K has roughly the same purchasing power as SF’s $156K divided by 1.68 (SF COL 178.6 vs Chicago 106) × 106 = equivalent to about $87,500 in SF purchasing power. Chicago wins on affordability at matching gross income levels.

The Illinois income tax does narrow Chicago’s advantage against Texas markets (Austin, Dallas), which have no state income tax. A Chicago DS earning $140K pays approximately $6,930 in state income tax; an equivalent Austin DS earning $140K pays $0 in state tax. That is real money, partially offset by the fact that Austin’s property tax rates run 2.0–2.4% of assessed value versus Chicago’s lower effective rates in many neighborhoods.

The bottom line: Chicago’s COL position is genuinely favorable compared to the Bay Area or New York, but less of an advantage than it might appear on paper once Illinois taxes are factored in.

Three-lever negotiation playbook

The mechanics that consistently move Chicago DS offers in 2026:

Lever 1: Anchor to domain-specific comp data, not BLS averages. Recruiters at Allstate, CME Group, Morningstar, and Relativity all have internal comp benchmarks that they know well. Arriving with “the BLS median is $113K” does not help you; it tells them you’re anchoring to the broad market average, which includes junior roles at small firms. Instead, use Levels.fyi data for that specific company, LinkedIn Salary for Chicago DS roles with your specific stack (Python + SQL + ML frameworks narrows the band), or compensation from competitive offers in the same sector. “Mid-level DS roles at comparable financial services firms in Chicago pay $135K–$155K base” is a different conversation than “the BLS median is $113K.”

Lever 2: Separate the bonus structure conversation from the base conversation. At trading firms and financial services companies, bonuses are genuinely variable and can represent 30–60% of total cash. Ask explicitly: “What is the target bonus percentage and what was the actual realized bonus for this role over the past two years?” Guaranteed first-year bonuses are common in financial services hiring and can offset a lower starting base. If the employer is reluctant to move base inside a tight band, push for a guaranteed minimum bonus in year one, written into the offer letter. This is standard practice at firms like Northern Trust, CME Group, and Morningstar.

Lever 3: Negotiate your level before your compensation. This is the highest-leverage move in the Chicago market, where the DS title covers a wide scope range. If you are offered a “Data Scientist” title but the role requires leading model architecture decisions, mentoring junior analysts, and presenting to senior leadership, that is a senior DS or even principal DS scope. Getting the level right before the comp conversation begins can be worth $25K–$40K in base without a single dollar of negotiation on the offer itself. Ask the hiring manager directly: “How is this role leveled relative to the senior DS and staff DS titles on your team, and what does the path from this level look like?” If the scope is senior, name it and ask to be leveled accordingly before the offer is generated.

Data caveats

BLS OEWS is the most rigorous and consistent public salary benchmark available — it covers all employers, not just self-reporters — but several limitations apply to these Chicago figures specifically:

The data is 12–18 months stale. The May 2024 OEWS release covers wages paid in spring 2024. The period from mid-2024 through mid-2026 saw continued demand for ML-experienced DS talent and wage growth in AI-adjacent roles at the high end of the distribution, while more traditional analytics DS roles saw slower growth. The P90 in particular may be understated for 2026 by 5–10%.

Equity is entirely excluded. BLS captures W-2 wages. RSUs, options, and cash bonuses are partially captured (cash bonuses appear in some wage surveys) but equity is not. For trading firm roles and high-equity tech roles, total comp substantially exceeds the base figures here.

The SOC code lumps all levels together. SOC 15-2051 includes entry-level DS analysts and principal-level ML researchers at the same company in the same bucket. The BLS percentiles are a statistical description of that mix, not a level-specific pay scale.

Chicago’s trading-firm tier is underrepresented in BLS data. Proprietary trading firms are not always full respondents to OEWS surveys, and their compensation structures (especially large discretionary bonuses) may not be fully reflected in the wage percentiles above. If you are evaluating a role at a Chicago prop trading firm, treat the P90 figure as irrelevant and instead research firm-specific total comp data from specialized finance compensation surveys.

For the most accurate offer benchmarking, triangulate: use the BLS percentiles as a floor reference, Levels.fyi for company-specific band data at known employers, and LinkedIn Salary data for your specific stack and seniority level. That combination gets you within 8–12% of what any specific Chicago DS offer should look like.

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