Hiring an emergency management director in Chicago, IL
Employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area pay emergency management directors a median of $101,130, with the middle half of the market between $65,530 and $125,570. Chicago residents working in management occupations report a median of $94,104, which is 7% below what the metro pays for this role.
What does an emergency management director earn here?
Place of work
What employers pay
| 25th percentile | $65,530 |
| Median | $101,130 |
| 75th percentile | $125,570 |
Half of emergency management directors in this area earn between $65,530 and $125,570. A band set below $65,530 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.
Place of residence
What Chicago residents earn
$94,104
Median earnings of Chicago residents working in management occupations, 168,375 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.
The 7% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.
The two sit close together, so pay alone is unlikely to be what wins or loses this hire.
What does the role actually involve?
Core tasks
- Consult with officials of local and area governments, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to determine their needs and capabilities in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.
- Develop and maintain liaisons with municipalities, county departments, and similar entities to facilitate plan development, response effort coordination, and exchanges of personnel and equipment.
- Coordinate disaster response or crisis management activities, such as ordering evacuations, opening public shelters, and implementing special needs plans and programs.
- Prepare emergency situation status reports that describe response and recovery efforts, needs, and preliminary damage assessments.
- Maintain and update all resource materials associated with emergency preparedness plans.
O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 11-9161.
Tools and technologies in demand
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, ESRI ArcGIS software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Word, Alert Technologies OpsCenter.
O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.
Is the talent actually in Chicago?
This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
That matters here, because 43.3% of Chicago adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.
The average Chicago commute runs 33.5 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 18.3% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.
How often do these jobs turn over?
In Cook County, management of companies and enterprises employs 33,028 and turns over 5.7% a quarter, with 2,297 hires against 2,508 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $15,035 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 55.
That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about emergency management directors. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.
What does the search cost?
The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $20,226 to $30,339 on the first year salary alone.
One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.
Price this search
Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.
Hiring an emergency management director somewhere else?
Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Houston, TX
- Phoenix, AZ
- Philadelphia, PA
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Dallas, TX
- Fort Worth, TX
- Jacksonville, FL
- Austin, TX
- San Jose, CA
Other management roles in Chicago
- Administrative Services Managers
- Advertising and Promotions Managers
- Architectural and Engineering Managers
- Chief Executives
- Compensation and Benefits Managers
- Computer and Information Systems Managers
- Construction Managers
- Education Administrators, All Other
- Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
- Education Administrators, Postsecondary
Related
- Hiring Emergency Management Directors: the role, the pay, the process
- Recruiting services in Chicago
- Every Illinois city we cover
Chicago is the largest of 1 Illinois cities in this dataset.