Fiscal Fallout: Illinois has among highest-paid state employees
[October 11, 2025]
By Jared Strong | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The average wages for Illinois state employees are
among the highest in the nation and belie the state's more modest
cost-of-living rankings, according to state and federal data.
A living cost analysis this year by the Economic Research and
Information Center in Missouri ranked Illinois as the 24th
most-expensive state. That is similar to the findings of the federal
Bureau of Economic Analysis, which placed Illinois 19th among states and
the District of Columbia, where it is most expensive to live.
But Illinois is among the Top 5 states for highest salaries for state
workers, according to OpenPayrolls, which tracks the data nationwide.
It found that the average annual state government salary in 2023 in
Illinois, excluding university jobs, is about $79,000.
That pay has been further buoyed by raises since, including a recently
self-imposed raise for lawmakers that increased their base pay to
$98,000, which is also in the Top 5 among states.
A review by the Illinois Policy Institute this year found that pay for
state government employees who are represented by the AFSCME Council 31
union has increased 57% faster since 2021 than for private sector jobs.
The group -- which is highly critical of government spending --
calculated an average wage for those state employees at about $85,000,
whereas it said comparable private sector jobs paid about $78,000.
AFSCME's latest contract with the state included pay increases that
total about 18% over the course of four years.
"It's a lack of a fight in negotiation on behalf of taxpayers," said
Dylan Sharkey, of Illinois Policy, told The Center Square.
Gov. JB Pritzker's office did not immediately respond to a request to
comment for this article.
The Center Square exposed the state's ballooning budgets and Pritzker
called for a 4% reduction soon after. The Center Square also recently
reported on the millions the state has spent in recent years for its new
Commission on Equity and Inclusion, which is mostly charged with
ensuring that a certain percentage of state contract money goes to
businesses owned by racial minorities, women and people with
disabilities.
That agency -- formed in 2022 -- has seven commissioners that earn more
than $150,000 each year and are allowed to have other jobs. Their
tracking data show the state is farther from its goal than when the
commission began its work.
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The Illinois State Capitol is shown in Springfield. Photo: Greg
Bishop / The Center Square
State employees who earn by far the most are University of Illinois
coaches. The Fighting Illini head football coach, Bret Bielema, has
a base salary of $7.7 million.
No one in state government eclipses $1 million, according to state
salary data obtained by The Center Square. Here are the highest
earners:
- The top two salaries belong to administrators of the Teachers'
Retirement System, a pension system for school personnel throughout
the state excluding Chicago. Executive Director Robert Rupnik has a
base salary of about $518,000. Ghiane Jones, the deputy chief
investment officer, earns about $398,000. The eighth-highest state
salary of about $327,000 goes to the retirement system's lead
attorney, Emily Peterson.
- Medical administrators and physicians occupy the rest of the
state's Top 20 salaries. The medical administrators for the
departments of Corrections and Human Services have base salaries of
between $310,000 and $345,000. The top physicians earn about
$307,000.
- The state's seven Supreme Court justices have annual salaries of
about $299,000. The more than 40 other appellate judges earn
$281,000. Hundreds of other judges make at least $245,000.
- General counsel for the governor, Ann Spillane, has a base salary
of about $298,000.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir of the Hyatt fortune, has forgone his
salary of more than $200,000.
Other leaders of the executive branch have the following salaries
set by state statute:
- Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias: $212,400
- Attorney General Kwame Raoul: $212,400
- Treasurer Michael Frerichs: $186,000
- Comptroller Susana Mendoza: $186,000
- Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton: $186,000
Jared Strong is an investigative reporter for The
Center Square based in the Midwest. He is a lifelong Iowan who has
worked for news organizations – big and small – for more than 20
years. He and his wife have three children, a small flock of
chickens and an old Case tractor. |
