Engineering manager salary in Chicago, IL
Employers in the Chicago metro offered engineering managers a median of $132,434 a year on approved H-1B applications. That is 18.7% below the US median for engineering managers, and 1.3% above offers to software engineers in Chicago.
Median offer
$132,434
US median offer: $162,951
The middle half
$107,640 – $166,348
25th to 75th percentile
After cost of living
$127,840
Chicago prices: 3.6% above US average
Open engineering manager jobs
56
In Chicago, from 37 companies
Pay range
The top 10% of engineering manager offers in Chicago were above $195,000 a year. The bottom 10% were below $107,640.
10th percentile $107,640, 25th $107,640, 75th $166,348, 90th $195,000.
10th percentile $110,094, 25th $126,818, 75th $208,535, 90th $250,000.
10th percentile $83,820, 25th $104,530, 75th $167,650, 90th $203,410.
Line: 10th to 90th percentile. Box: the middle half (25th to 75th). Dark mark: the median. Engineering managers: salaries offered on H-1B applications. All software engineers: salaries paid, from the BLS.
How far the pay goes in Chicago
Prices in Chicago are 3.6% above the US average, which makes the median offer worth $127,840 in US-average dollars. Housing costs 12.0% more than the US average.
Black line: US average = 100. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024.
Engineering managers and other engineering jobs in Chicago
Median salary offered on approved H-1B applications in the Chicago metro, for every engineering job type with at least 30 applications.
| Job | Applications | Median offer |
|---|---|---|
| Machine learning engineers | 49 | $135,000 |
| Engineering managers | 389 | $132,434 |
| AI engineers | 47 | $131,000 |
| Site reliability engineers | 32 | $130,707 |
| All software engineers | 3,401 | $130,707 |
| Cloud engineers | 43 | $123,429 |
| Data engineers | 337 | $120,000 |
| DevOps engineers | 102 | $108,077 |
| Support engineers | 33 | $108,077 |
All software engineers: every application filed under the BLS software developer job code, whatever its title. Backend and full-stack engineers: left out, since a plain "Software Engineer" title counts as both.
Experience level of these offers
From October 2025 to June 2026, the Department of Labor approved 389 H-1B applications for engineering managers in the Chicago metro, from 117 employers. Level III offers were the most common.
Applications
389
Employers
117
Most experienced (Level IV)
39.6%
Applications by wage level
- Level I (entry): 5
- Level II: 24
- Level III: 182
- Level IV (most experienced): 154
- Not stated: 24
These are salaries offered on approved applications, not salaries paid. Each application lists only its main work site.
56 open engineering manager jobs in Chicago right now
From 37 companies. 7 were posted in the past week.
What counts as an engineering manager
The BLS has no category for managers of software engineers alone, so these figures come from job titles. An H-1B application or a job on hiredaemon counts as an engineering manager job when its title names managing engineers, such as "Engineering Manager", "Software Development Manager" or "Director of Engineering".
Sources and notes
- Engineering manager offers: US Department of Labor, H-1B application data, October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Approved H-1B applications whose job title names managing engineers and whose work site is in one of the metro area's 13 counties.
- Software engineer pay: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (published May 15, 2026), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro.
- Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Open jobs: counted on hiredaemon as this page loads.