Technical writer salary in Chicago, IL
What technical writers 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
$89,960
Middle half earn
$73,150 to $108,890
People in this job here
790
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Technical Writers, Chicago, IL, annual pay, May 2025
- 10th percentile
- $59,960
- 25th percentile
- $73,150
- Median
- $89,960
- 75th percentile
- $108,890
- 90th percentile
- $135,770
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 27-3042. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.
At a glance
How Chicago, IL compares
- The median here matches the national median of $90,390.
- Chicago, IL ranks 18th for median pay among the 49 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
- About 790 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 5,713 jobs in the metro.
- Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2.3 times the 10th.
Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.
| Percentile | Chicago, IL | National |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $59,960 | $57,440 |
| 25th percentile | $73,150 | $70,880 |
| Median | $89,960 | $90,390 |
| 75th percentile | $108,890 | $115,510 |
| 90th percentile | $135,770 | $145,270 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 27-3042. National page for technical writers
By metro
Other metros for technical writers
Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.
- San Jose, CA$140,700
- San Francisco, CA$135,470
- Boston, MA$111,750
- New York, NY$111,050
- Seattle, WA$107,580
- Los Angeles, CA$104,000
- Denver, CO$103,360
- Hartford, CT$102,470
- Baltimore, MD$102,140
- San Diego, CA$101,750
- Washington, DC$99,910
- Sacramento, CA$94,400
- Raleigh, NC$93,580
- Detroit, MI$92,390
- Philadelphia, PA$92,330
- Providence, RI$92,240
- Memphis, TN$90,710
- Jacksonville, FL$89,440
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY$89,260
- Tampa, FL$89,210
- Austin, TX$88,360
- Houston, TX$87,360
- Orlando, FL$86,600
- Dallas, TX$86,520
- Minneapolis, MN$86,340
- Riverside, CA$85,500
- Miami, FL$84,750
- Phoenix, AZ$83,480
- Indianapolis, IN$82,970
- Las Vegas, NV$82,860
- Charlotte, NC$82,610
- San Antonio, TX$82,520
- Milwaukee, WI$82,370
- Salt Lake City, UT$82,050
- Portland, OR$81,540
- St. Louis, MO$80,840
- Nashville, TN$79,550
- Virginia Beach, VA$79,340
- Richmond, VA$79,200
- Cincinnati, OH$79,140
- Grand Rapids, MI$79,080
- Columbus, OH$78,870
- Buffalo, NY$78,300
- Kansas City, MO$76,590
- Cleveland, OH$75,810
- Atlanta, GA$75,140
- Oklahoma City, OK$71,210
- San Juan, PR$46,950
Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Skills
What employers look for in a technical writer
The skills our technical writer resume example leads with, written for US employers.
- API documentation
- Developer guides
- Docs as code
- Markdown
- Git
- OpenAPI and Swagger
- Information architecture
- Style guides
- Editing and review
- Screenshots and diagrams
See the full technical writer resume example, with bullets and keywords.
Negotiating
Using these numbers
Below $73,150 puts you in the bottom quarter for technical writers in Chicago, IL. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.
The median, $89,960, 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 $108,890 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 Technical Writers, 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 technical writer pay in Chicago, IL
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