Computer programmers job market in Illinois
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Industry employment fell while average weekly industry wages rose
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Computer programmers in Illinois.
Occupation pay
What Computer programmers earn in Illinois
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$72,540Illinois- Middle 50% of published wages
- $50,640 – $110,980
- U.S. median annual wage
- $100,390
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Pay around Illinois
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Computer programmers, compared with the Illinois median of $72,540.
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$99,750+37.5% vs. state
St. Louis, MO-IL$96,920+33.6% vs. state
Champaign-Urbana, IL$89,380+23.2% vs. state
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL$84,400+16.3% vs. state
Springfield, IL$61,160−15.7% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Illinois median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in Illinois’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 168,497 represented establishments, 85.93% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for computer programmers in Illinois
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 10, 2026.
This occupation is less concentrated in the state
OEWS May 2025 places Illinois's share of employment in computer programmers at 0.35 times the corresponding national share. The published location quotient expresses that comparison. The state estimate is 1,280 jobs, 1.4% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.21 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. Employment concentration does not establish future growth; it describes employment share, not current hiring.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Published median pay is below the U.S. median
Illinois's published median annual wage for computer programmers is 27.7% below the national median in OEWS May 2025. The state estimate is $72,540, compared with $100,390 across the U.S. These medians are not adjusted for living costs and do not describe every worker.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSIndustry groups are pulling in opposite directions
A single industry employment figure combines an increase and a decrease in Illinois in January to March 2026. Among the leading industry groups for this occupation, Private education and health services changed +2.1% year over year and Professional and business services changed -1.3%. The groups examined cover 91.8% of the occupation's national industry mix.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPay differs widely between metro areas
Springfield, IL and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN define the low and high ends of this published median-pay comparison for Illinois. Their estimates are $61,160 and $99,750, respectively, in OEWS May 2025; the high end is 63.1% higher. The comparison includes 3 metro areas on the same wage basis and does not measure living costs or job availability.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSMetro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.
Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology
Employment trends
Illinois industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- Illinois · 2026 Q1-0.1%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark0.0%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Illinois | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | -1.1% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | -0.7% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | -0.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | -0.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | -0.2% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | -0.1% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | -0.1% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | -0.1% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Illinois’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- 0.0%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Computer programmers Work
The occupation mix determines which Illinois industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional and business services | 47.0% | -1.3% | 87,055 | $2,208 |
| Private education and health services | 13.5% | +2.1% | 44,950 | $1,266 |
| Information | 9.1% | +2.3% | 10,203 | $3,270 |
| State and local | 8.3% | +1.4% | 6,534 | $1,396 |
| Manufacturing | 7.8% | -1.2% | 19,755 | $2,067 |
| Financial activities | 5.9% | +1.1% | 34,559 | $4,400 |
Which industries are growing?
4 weighted industries are growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Illinois employment change are listed.
- Information+2.3%
- Private education and health services+2.1%
- State and local+1.4%
- Financial activities+1.1%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Illinois context
Current Illinois Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Illinois. They are not Computer programmers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Illinois
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 87.70 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 87.71 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 87.29 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 87.21 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 87.34 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 87.57 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 87.61 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 88.41 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 88.33 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 89.10 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 89.45 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 89.90 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 89.80 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 90.25 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Oct 30, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Statewide layoff notices
Monthly WARN notices in Illinois
Monthly measurementA verified monthly import is unavailable. Missing data is not treated as zero.
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Computer programmers in Illinois FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Computer programmers in Illinois?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Illinois industries weighted to Computer programmers changed -0.1% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with 0.0% nationwide.
Are wages for Computer programmers rising in Illinois?
QCEW does not publish pay for Computer programmers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +3.0% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Illinois industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Computer programmers openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Computer programmers
- SOC code
- 15-1251
- State
- Illinois
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- -0.1%State data coverage 100%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- 0.0%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- -0.1 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- +5.7%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +3.0%State data coverage 100%
- Industry mix vintage
- EP-2025-2035
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/computer-programmers/illinois#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.