Rockford, IL Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Rockford, IL - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Rockford, IL moved from $45,970 in May 2024 to $47,120 in May 2025 (+2.5%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Rockford, IL sits -0.6 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Registered Nurses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Rockford, IL
Registered Nurses publishes $80,930 here versus $97,550 nationally (-17.0%; 4,620metro-area jobs). Next is Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand at $44,200 locally versus $40,240 nationally (+9.8%).
- Registered Nurses$80,930 in Rockford, IL sits 17.0% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (4,620 published local jobs).
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand$44,200 in Rockford, IL sits 9.8% above the national Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand median of $40,240 (5,940 published local jobs).
- General and Operations Managers$98,390 in Rockford, IL sits 7.0% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (3,340 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$33,540 in Rockford, IL sits 5.3% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (2,970 published local jobs).
Registered Nurses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Rockford, IL; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 40420 · Rockford, IL $61K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #187/528
- RPP-LOW 92.2
- OCC-MID 328 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $324K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE -0.6 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Morgantown, WV
- BOOK-FULL 326 rows · May 2025
Read with Morgantown, WV (+$5 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Rockford, IL
Employment scale inside Rockford, IL's top-pay list
Financial Managers and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside Rockford, IL's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 590 jobs · $135,650
- 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 540 jobs · $121,920
- 3. Sales Managers 510 jobs · $133,560
- 4. Industrial Production Managers 460 jobs · $120,800
- 5. Physicians, All Other 410 jobs · $323,660
- 6. Software Developers 380 jobs · $107,640
- 7. Managers, All Other 320 jobs · $127,870
- 8. Construction Managers 320 jobs · $106,870
- 9. Pharmacists 300 jobs · $134,190
- 10. Architectural and Engineering Managers 250 jobs · $146,930
- 11. Computer and Information Systems Managers 250 jobs · $146,600
- 12. Nurse Practitioners 240 jobs · $127,720
- 13. Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers 210 jobs · $109,710
- 14. Human Resources Managers 200 jobs · $123,090
- 15. Electrical Engineers 180 jobs · $112,350
- 16. Marketing Managers 170 jobs · $124,440
- 17. Dentists, General 130 jobs · $214,670
- 18. Chief Executives 90 jobs · $323,030
Occupations Tracked
328
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$60,520
employment-weighted, 326 complete rows
Top Salary
$323,660
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
92.2
8% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Rockford, IL
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $323,660 |
| 2 | Chief Executives | $323,030 |
| 3 | Dentists, General | $214,670 |
| 4 | Family Medicine Physicians | $168,210 |
| 5 | Pediatricians, General | $161,330 |
| 6 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $146,930 |
| 7 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $146,600 |
| 8 | Financial Managers | $135,650 |
| 9 | Pharmacists | $134,190 |
| 10 | Sales Managers | $133,560 |
| 11 | Veterinarians | $132,720 |
| 12 | Managers, All Other | $127,870 |
| 13 | Physician Assistants | $127,800 |
| 14 | Nurse Practitioners | $127,720 |
| 15 | Purchasing Managers | $126,970 |
| 16 | Marketing Managers | $124,440 |
| 17 | Human Resources Managers | $123,090 |
| 18 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $121,920 |
| 19 | Industrial Production Managers | $120,800 |
| 20 | Information Security Analysts | $119,400 |
| 21 | Electrical Engineers | $112,350 |
| 22 | Personal Financial Advisors | $110,850 |
| 23 | Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $109,710 |
| 24 | Software Developers | $107,640 |
| 25 | Construction Managers | $106,870 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Rockford, IL
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers | $31,200 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $31,200 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $31,200 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $31,200 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $31,200 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $31,200 |
| Bartenders | $31,200 |
| School Bus Monitors | $31,200 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $31,200 |
| Library Technicians | $31,200 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in IL
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside IL. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($60,520 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Rockford, IL? ▼
Which published medians lead Rockford, IL? ▼
What is the cost of living in Rockford, IL? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Rockford, IL come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Rockford, IL wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Rockford, IL at $323,660/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $60,520 adjusts to about $65,673 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 92.2. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for IL before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.