Medical assistant salary in Illinois

For most medical assistants in Illinois, yearly pay falls between $38,970 and $49,460. That is the middle half of workers, so 1 in 4 makes less and 1 in 4 makes more, according to the BLS.

Average pay comes to $45,770 a year, close to the median. The best-paid 10% earn $56,590 or more, so there is real room above the middle.

Your Illinois location can change what you earn. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin pays the most, at a median of $47,270 a year, and it also has the largest number of jobs by far, about 15,640.

Cape Girardeau, MO-IL has the lowest metro-area median, at $37,470 a year, from the BLS figures.

Slightly. Illinois has a median of $46,090, which is 1% higher than the US median of $45,690. Out of the 50 states plus Washington, DC, Illinois comes in 21st of 51 for medical assistant pay, per the BLS.

This work is not as widespread here as in most states. Illinois has about 20,260 medical assistants. That equals 3.3 for every 1,000 jobs, which puts Illinois 46th out of 51.

Illinois medical assistants earn about what nursing assistants and phlebotomists do. Nurses earn more.

Each median is from the BLS wage tables.

Yes. The state labor agency projects growth from 23,500 jobs in 2024 to 26,060 by 2034, a 10.9% rise, according to Projections Central.

That pace is a bit under the 12.5% US rate, with Illinois 43rd out of 51. Still, roughly 3,190 openings should open up each year. That total includes new jobs plus people leaving the field.

Our Illinois list has 39 schools that send their medical assistant graduate counts to the federal College Navigator data. Of those, 21 run an accredited program. Accredited means a national body, CAAHEP or ABHES, has verified the program meets its standards.

Nationwide, the typical career school program runs about 9 months at the median. The median published price for the full program comes to $17,257 with tuition, fees and books included, per federal college data. Public colleges charge a median of $4,346 in in-district tuition and fees per full-time year.

Some programs offer online classes. The hands-on clinical training, usually known as an externship, always happens face to face at a real clinic or office.

About 3,190 Illinois openings come up every year, so now is a good time to look at training. Pick one of the 21 accredited programs on our Illinois program pages and send the "Request information" form with your name, email, phone, ZIP code and preferred start time, and your request goes to that one school.