Certified Nursing Assistant Salary in Chicago, IL (2026)

What certified nursing assistant pay in Chicago really looks like

Chicago pays above the national market for certified nursing assistants. The local median of about $22.57 an hour ($46,940 a year) is $4,680 (11%) over the U.S. median of $42,260 — a premium worth anchoring to when you negotiate. An offer benchmarked to nationwide averages will read low here, so it is worth citing the local BLS figure directly rather than the U.S. number.

Pay is tightly clustered here: the 25th-to-75th-percentile band runs just $42,940 to $49,060 (BLS). A narrow spread means the metro median is a dependable expectation rather than a midpoint between wildly different jobs — there is little room above it without a credential, a specialty, or a supervisory step, so the ladder up is about the role, not just the employer.

This is a substantial local market: BLS estimates roughly 45,850 certified nursing assistant jobs across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (a count of metro employment, not a survey of reported salaries). A deep employer base is good news for pay — it means more openings to compare side by side, more turnover creating vacancies, and more leverage to hold out for an employer at the top of the local range instead of settling for the first offer that lands.

Right now, Jobeezy is tracking 24 open certified nursing assistant jobs in Chicago against the BLS $46,940 benchmark — the live listings and the employers hiring are below, so you can see which openings actually clear the metro median before you apply.

Put it together and the picture for Chicago is concrete: a metro median of $46,940 with most certified nursing assistants landing between $42,940 and $49,060. The practical move is to aim for the upper half of that band. Jobeezy fit-scores local certified nursing assistant openings, surfaces the employers posting toward $49,060, and applies for you — so your time goes to the jobs that clear the Chicago median, not the ones that sit under it.

How we know this — Chicago sources

Wage figures for Certified Nursing Assistant in Chicago, IL are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025 estimate for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (MSA code 16980) (SOC 31-1131), released 2026-08-25. Suppressed cells are shown as an em dash, never a zero.

Reviewed by Dalton Metzler · Jobeezy Compensation Data

How we source & label these figures →

Certified Nursing Assistant pay in Chicago, IL — common questions

How much does a Certified Nursing Assistant make in Chicago, IL?

The median Certified Nursing Assistant salary in Chicago, IL is $22.57/hour ($46,940/year) ($4,680 (11%) above the national median), with a typical range of $42,940–$49,060 (25th–75th percentile). Figures are BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-08-25.

Is Chicago a strong pay market for Certified Nursing Assistants?

At a $46,940 median, Chicago is $4,680 (11%) above the national median. The U.S. median is $42,260. Jobeezy shows you which local employers actually pay at the top of that band before you apply.

How can I earn more as a Certified Nursing Assistant in Chicago?

Target employers paying toward the $49,060 (75th-percentile) mark and anchor your negotiation to the BLS band. Jobeezy fit-scores Certified Nursing Assistant openings in Chicago and auto-applies, so you reach more high-paying employers fast.

How many Certified Nursing Assistants work in Chicago?

BLS estimates roughly 45,850 certified nursing assistant jobs across Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN (May 2025 metro employment — a count of jobs, not of salaries reported).