Do millwrights make more in Rockford or Chicago?

Chicago pays more: the median is $66,560 in Rockford and $74,730 in Chicago, a 11% difference.

Millwright salary in Rockford, IL

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Millwrights in the Rockford, IL area earn a median of $66,560 a year, or $32.00 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $83,680. That's about the same as the Illinois median of $66,640.

Median yearly pay$66,560

Bottom 10% under$39,520Top 10% over$83,680

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $19.00/hr
Jobs in this area: 60
After cost of living: $72,230
Median hourly pay: $32.00/hr
vs U.S. median: +1%
vs Illinois median: 0%
Mean (average) pay: $63,980 a year · $30.76 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 40420, Rockford, IL). Excludes self-employed millwrights. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What millwrights in Rockford, IL earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

Percentile	Hourly	Yearly
10th percentile	$19.00	$39,520
25th percentile	$19.51	$40,580
Median (50th)	$32.00	$66,560
75th percentile	$40.23	$83,680
90th percentile	$40.23	$83,680

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Rockford, IL compares

Rockford ranks 2nd of 7 Illinois metro areas for millwright pay.
Millwrights are more concentrated in the Rockford area than nationally: 0.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.7 times the U.S. share.

Other Illinois metro areas

Other trades in Rockford, IL

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Plumber Diesel mechanic Carpenter Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer Ironworker

Questions

Do millwrights make more in Rockford or Chicago?: Chicago pays more: the median is $66,560 in Rockford and $74,730 in Chicago, a 11% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 49-9044 (Millwrights), area code 40420 (Rockford, IL). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed millwrights and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (92.2, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures