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Hiring a proofreader in Chicago, IL

Employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area pay proofreaders and copy markers a median of $51,970, with the middle half of the market between $38,170 and $61,230. Chicago residents working in office and administrative support occupations report a median of $42,932, which is 17% below what the metro pays for this role.

What does a proofreader earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile$38,170
Median$51,970
75th percentile$61,230

Half of proofreaders and copy markers in this area earn between $38,170 and $61,230. A band set below $38,170 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Chicago residents earn

$42,932

Median earnings of Chicago residents working in office and administrative support occupations, 130,323 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 17% 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 role pays well above the local residential norm, which usually means you can hire from inside Chicago rather than competing for commuters.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

  • Mark copy to indicate and correct errors in type, arrangement, grammar, punctuation, or spelling, using standard printers' marks.
  • Read corrected copies or proofs to ensure that all corrections have been made.
  • Correct or record omissions, errors, or inconsistencies found.
  • Compare information or figures on one record against same data on other records, or with original copy, to detect errors.
  • Route proofs with marked corrections to authors, editors, typists, or typesetters for correction or reprinting.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 43-9081.

Tools and technologies in demand

HubSpot software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, WordPress, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe After Effects.

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, administrative and support services employs 204,532 and turns over 13.2% a quarter, with 54,417 hires against 58,269 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $5,563 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 56.

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 proofreaders and copy markers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a high-churn market, where speed matters more than a perfect fit.

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 $10,394 to $15,591 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 a proofreader somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other office and administrative support roles in Chicago

Related

Chicago is the largest of 1 Illinois cities in this dataset.