Psychologist Salary in Illinois

The psychologist salary in Illinois is a range, not one number. Half of the clinical and counseling psychologists BLS counted in Illinois earned more than $83,750 a year in May 2025 and half earned less. Percentiles mark places in the pay distribution; they are not experience levels. Set beside the U.S. figures for the same occupation, the 10th percentile wage in Illinois is 66 percent of the national $55,170, the median 83 percent of $100,580, and the 90th percentile 93 percent of $180,960.

Within the psychologist salary in Illinois, the 90th percentile wage is 4.6 times the 10th, against 3.3 times across the country. The band between the 25th and 75th percentile spans $73,240, 118 percent of the $61,990 national band. The mean annual wage of $95,590 is 114 percent of the median, and the hourly median is $40.27. The 25th percentile wage ranks forty-seventh of 48 jurisdictions, the 75th percentile wage twenty-seventh and the mean annual wage thirty-seventh.

The psychologist salary in Illinois also changes from one metropolitan area to the next. St. Louis, MO-IL has the highest median annual wage among the metropolitan areas BLS publishes for clinical and counseling psychologists (SOC 19-3033) in Illinois: $101,250 in May 2025, 121 percent of the statewide median.

Springfield, IL has the lowest, $69,520, 83 percent of the statewide median. Three of the seven areas sit above the statewide median of $83,750.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN has the most clinical and counseling psychologists of the areas listed, about 5,030, with a median of $85,390, 102 percent of the statewide median.

BLS defines a metropolitan area by county, so an area that crosses a state line has one figure for the whole area.

School psychologists (SOC 19-3034) in Illinois earned a median annual wage of $84,690 in May 2025, 88 percent of the U.S. median of $95,990. That median ranks twenty-third of 51 jurisdictions. It is 101 percent of the $83,750 median for clinical and counseling psychologists in Illinois.

BLS counted about 3,590 school psychologists and about 5,810 clinical and counseling psychologists in Illinois, 0.6 school psychologists for every one of the others.

The school psychologist 10th percentile wage ranks twenty-third of 51 jurisdictions and the 90th percentile wage fifteenth, and the occupation ranks fifth by concentration, 0.59 for every 1,000 jobs.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN has the highest median annual wage among the areas BLS publishes for school psychologists in Illinois: $90,620, with about 2,770 employed. West Central Illinois nonmetropolitan area has the lowest, $70,210. BLS publishes twelve such areas in all.

BLS also publishes psychologists, all other (SOC 19-3039) for Illinois: a median annual wage of $69,810 in May 2025, with about 1,120 employed, 83 percent of the $83,750 median for clinical and counseling psychologists there. The group holds the psychologists BLS does not list separately, so it is not a wage for any one specialty.

Illinois has 6 ranked PsyD programs, led by Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL (ranked sixth of 117), then Adler University, Chicago in Chicago, IL (ranked fifty-second of 117) and Midwestern University, Downers Grove in Downers Grove, IL (ranked fifty-fifth of 117). One of the six is APA-accredited in school psychology, alone or combined with clinical or counseling.

Illinois issues the Licensed Clinical Psychologist license and asks for both an internship year and a postdoctoral year. The licensing board is the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board), read October 14, 2026. PsyD programs in Illinois ranks all six with the state’s licensing rules.

BLS puts the licensing rule this way: “In most states, practicing psychology or using the title of ‘psychologist’ requires licensure.” (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, read October 14, 2026). The steps from a doctorate to a license, with Illinois’s own rules in a table of every state, are in the licensing guide that covers Illinois.