City market profile
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN OT job market
Compare Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN using BLS occupational therapist wage, employment, density, and concentration data from the May 2025 OEWS release.
Metro rank #16$101,400 mean wage5,960 OT jobs1.26 location quotient
Market snapshot
How Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN compares for occupational therapists
The OT Index city score balances pay, role depth, role density, and occupational concentration. Raw source measures stay visible so the score can be audited.
Decision snapshot
Should Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN be on your OT market shortlist?
Use the metro rank to frame the opportunity, then verify the employers, settings, commute, and cost profile that affect day-to-day fit.
Best for
- OTs comparing a top-25 metro market with rank #16 in the current release.
- Clinicians who want a deeper local job base with 5,960 estimated OT jobs.
- Readers comparing Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN against the broader Illinois state-market profile.
Watch closely
- Metro wage data does not adjust for rent, taxes, commute time, benefits, productivity model, or caseload mix.
- A deeper job base still needs setting-level review because hospitals, schools, SNFs, and home health can feel very different.
- A strong concentration signal can still hide weak fit if the best employers are outside your commute radius.
Ask before deciding
- Which employers and settings drive OT hiring in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?
- How does take-home pay look after rent, commute time, benefits, and productivity expectations?
- Are there enough mentors, specialty roles, and fieldwork or referral networks for your career stage?
Methodology
Why this metro scores where it does
Metro rankings are most useful when the score is read beside the raw measures. A high-wage city can still have a shallow market, while a dense market can still have weaker pay.
Mean annual wage40%
BLS OEWS mean annual wage for the metro.
Employment depth25%
Log-scaled employment count so deeper markets count without letting the largest metros dominate.
Employment density20%
Occupational therapist jobs per 1,000 local jobs.
Job concentration15%
BLS location quotient, used as a local concentration signal versus the national labor market.
Nearby comparisons
Other Illinois metro markets
Compare this metro against nearby labor markets before using a single city score to make a relocation or negotiation decision.
| Metro | Score | Mean wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peoria, IL Rank #180; 1.11 LQ | 40.2 | $95,490 | 190 |
| Springfield, IL Rank #207; 0.92 LQ | 38.1 | $102,250 | 100 |
| Rockford, IL Rank #247; 0.89 LQ | 35.4 | $95,530 | 130 |
| Champaign-Urbana, IL Rank #269; 1.05 LQ | 33.4 | $87,710 | 120 |
| Bloomington, IL Rank #302; 0.90 LQ | 30.7 | $90,070 | 80 |
| Kankakee, IL Rank #339; 0.91 LQ | 26.5 | $87,200 | 40 |