Average Surgical Assistants Salary in Illinois

Surgical Assistants in Illinois earn a median annual salary of $80,210, which is +20.1% compared to the national median. There are 2,300 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Illinois (state).

$80,210

Illinois median annual wage

$39/hour median

+20.1%

Difference vs national median

National median is $66,800

2,300

Local employment

0.4 jobs per 1,000 workers

2.63

Location quotient

Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally

Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th: $64,220
25th: $80,210
Median: $80,210
75th: $80,210
90th: $83,740

All values are percentiles of annual wages.

This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in Illinois, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.

Regional price parity

Cost-of-living context

All-items regional price parity

100.0%

Exact state RPP match

Median wage adjusted to the national price level

$80,244

Goods: 103.8%
Services: 85.0%
Rents: 93.9%

Comparison links

Comparable states for this occupation

State	Median annual wage	Compare	Employment
District of Columbia	$123,390	Compare	90
Arizona	$111,170	Compare	N/A
Colorado	$107,440	Compare	N/A
Nevada	$100,820	Compare	230
New Jersey	$90,710	Compare	N/A
South Carolina	$85,580	Compare	480

The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.

Area context

Top occupations in Illinois

Occupation	Median annual wage	LQ
Cardiologists	$517,850	0.51
Surgeons, All Other	$438,010	0.63
Dermatologists	$435,750	N/A
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric	$426,580	0.30
Physicians, Pathologists	$381,770	N/A
Orthodontists	$343,100	N/A
Chief Executives	$331,920	0.58
Airline Pilots, Copilots, And Flight Engineers	$293,490	1.59

Illinois has salary data for 759 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Cardiologists.

Historical series

Trend for Surgical Assistants in Illinois

Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Surgical Assistants are projected to change by +5.1% from 2024 to 2034, with 1,600 annual openings.

Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.

For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.