All 39 departments / City of Chicago
Chicago Department of Aviation
Headcount, pay, and awarded contracts for the Chicago Department of Aviation, computed live from the City of Chicago's open data. Salaried and hourly employees are reported separately, because the city records only one of the two pay fields for each person.
1,986
People on the payroll
Salaried and hourly combined
$91,788
Median salaried pay
Across 988 salaried staff
$98,762
Average salaried pay
Excludes hourly employees
$97,576,428
Total salaried payroll
Annual, before benefits
Hourly staff
998
Hourly employees
$50.23
Median hourly rate
$49.45
Average hourly rate
Hourly rates are not annualized here. Actual annual earnings depend on hours worked and overtime, neither of which the payroll extract publishes.
Most common job titles in the Chicago Department of Aviation
Contracts awarded
The city's contracts dataset records 11,119 contract actions naming the Chicago Department of Aviation, with award amounts totaling $25,444,059,699. Award amounts can be negative when a contract is revised downward or funds are de-obligated, so the total is a net figure rather than a spending total. Departments are named slightly differently in the contracts and payroll datasets, so this covers contracts filed under the exact name "CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION".
- Aecom Hunt / Clayco, A Joint Venture$1,720,000,000CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AT-RISK SERVICES FOR O'HARE 21 AT O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTApproved Oct 20, 2025
- Aor Transit$1,050,000,000(Spec 1318223) Operation and Maintenance of the Airport Transit System (ATS) at Chicago O'Hare International AirportApproved Jul 13, 2026
- Chicago Airlines Terminal Consortium$491,712,916CATCO REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENTApproved May 8, 2023
- Austin Power Partners$489,600,000CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AT-RISK SERVICES FOR O'HARE 21 AT O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTApproved Jul 17, 2020
- Chicago Airlines Terminal Consortium$450,000,000CATCO REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENTApproved Jan 11, 2019
Sources
- Employee Salariesupdated periodicallyofficial portal ↗
- City Contractsupdated dailyofficial portal ↗
Pay figures are base pay only — no overtime, benefits, or pension costs. Medians are the middle record of the ordered list, computed over employees with that pay field filled in.
Related pages
Chicago Department of Aviation FAQ
- How many people work for the Chicago Department of Aviation?
- The City of Chicago's payroll extract lists 1,986 employees in the Chicago Department of Aviation — 988 paid an annual salary and 998 paid an hourly rate. The city republishes the extract periodically, so the figure moves as people are hired and leave.
- What does the Chicago Department of Aviation pay?
- Median pay for salaried employees in the Chicago Department of Aviation is $91,788 a year, and the average is $98,762. Hourly employees are reported separately, at a median rate of $50.23 an hour. These are base pay figures — they do not include overtime, benefits, or pension costs.
- What jobs does the Chicago Department of Aviation employ?
- The most common job titles in the Chicago Department of Aviation are Motor Truck Driver, Aviation Security Officer, Laborer, Electrical Mechanic, Custodial Worker. The full list of titles in the department, with headcount for each, is ranked on this page.
- How much has the Chicago Department of Aviation awarded in contracts?
- The city's contracts dataset records 11,119 contract actions naming the Chicago Department of Aviation, totaling $25,444,059,699 in award amounts. That total is a net figure: revisions and de-obligations are recorded as negative award amounts, so it is not the same as total spending.