BLS OEWS, May 2025

Cybersecurity analyst salary in Chicago, IL

What cybersecurity analysts are paid in Chicago, IL, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.

Median annual pay

$125,310

Middle half earn

$99,760 to $158,210

People in this job here

3,480

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Information Security Analysts, Chicago, IL, annual pay, May 2025

10th percentile
$79,460
25th percentile
$99,760
Median
$125,310
75th percentile
$158,210
90th percentile
$174,450

BLS calls this Information Security Analysts.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 15-1212. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.

At a glance

How Chicago, IL compares

  • The median here is 3% below the national median of $129,180.
  • Chicago, IL ranks 25th for median pay among the 48 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
  • About 3,480 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 1,297 jobs in the metro.
  • Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2.2 times the 10th.

Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.

Chicago, IL against the national figures
PercentileChicago, ILNational
10th percentile$79,460$75,090
25th percentile$99,760$97,810
Median$125,310$129,180
75th percentile$158,210$163,500
90th percentile$174,450$199,850

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 15-1212. National page for cybersecurity analysts

By metro

Other metros for cybersecurity analysts

Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.

Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Skills

What employers look for in a cybersecurity analyst

The skills our cybersecurity analyst resume example leads with, written for US employers.

  • SIEM analysis
  • Splunk
  • Incident response
  • Threat hunting
  • MITRE ATT&CK
  • Vulnerability management
  • Endpoint detection and response
  • Phishing analysis
  • Log correlation
  • Network traffic analysis

See the full cybersecurity analyst resume example, with bullets and keywords.

Negotiating

Using these numbers

Below $99,760 puts you in the bottom quarter for cybersecurity analysts in Chicago, IL. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.

The median, $125,310, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.

Asking for $158,210 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.

Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.

About the numbers

What these figures are

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Information Security Analysts, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.

They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living. The metro is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN as BLS defines it.

Questions

Questions about cybersecurity analyst pay in Chicago, IL

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