Talent Maps / Chicago / Industrial and Manufacturing Engineers

Chicago Industrial and Manufacturing Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What industrial and manufacturing engineers earn in Chicago, which plants employ them, where they work and the pharmaceutical, trailer, quantum and auto projects competing for them.

Hiring manufacturing engineers in Chicago?

A talent map shows where a group of professionals works, what they are paid and who else is trying to hire them. This one covers industrial and manufacturing engineers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area, where about 410,000 people work in manufacturing, from Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant to AbbVie’s North Chicago campus and new trailer plants in Will County. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses company, BLS and state data published in 2025 and 2026. Our engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Chicago mechanical, controls and aerospace talent maps.

$101,760Median industrial engineer pay in metro ChicagoBLS, May 2025

$129,840Median industrial production manager pay in metro ChicagoBLS, May 2025

410,300Manufacturing jobs in metro ChicagoBLS, August 2026 (preliminary)

2,475New full-time jobs Hyundai Translead has committed to at two Will County trailer plantsOffice of the Illinois Governor, March 2026

$380MAbbVie’s two new drug ingredient plants in North Chicago, with 300 jobsWGN, February 2026

3,300Jobs Stellantis plans when its Belvidere plant reopens for Jeep productionAssembly Magazine, May 2026

Industrial engineer salaries in Chicago

The median industrial engineer in metro Chicago earns $101,760 a year, about $680 below the national median of $102,440 and $1,220 above the Illinois median of $100,540. Chicago tracks the national figures across the range: the top 10% earn $155,480 or more, against $159,860 nationally.

Annual pay percentile	Chicago metro	Illinois	United States
10th percentile	$74,420	$73,780	$74,370
25th percentile	$82,260	$81,710	$83,600
Median	$101,760	$100,540	$102,440
75th percentile	$126,580	$125,210	$129,250
90th percentile	$155,480	$155,650	$159,860

Industrial Engineers (SOC 17-2112), which includes most manufacturing engineers. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine.

Industrial production managers in Chicago earn a median of $129,840, and the top 10% earn $216,720 or more, above the national 90th percentile of $205,520. Read our guide on how to hire a manufacturing engineer.

Where Chicago’s industrial and manufacturing engineers work

Automotive

Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant marked 100 years of production in 2024, the longest of any Ford plant. It has built more than 3.3 million Explorers since 2010 and also builds the Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor Utility.

Stellantis’s Belvidere plant, idle since February 2023, is due to reopen for the Jeep Compass and Cherokee with about 3,300 jobs. The first Compass may not leave the line until June 2028.

Pharmaceuticals

AbbVie employs more than 11,500 people at its North Chicago headquarters. It is building two active pharmaceutical ingredient plants for $380 million, hiring 300 people, including engineers, with both plants fully running in 2029.

Transportation equipment

Hyundai Translead will invest $452.5 million in two Will County trailer plants on the former Caterpillar heavy equipment and Lion Electric sites, creating at least 2,475 full-time jobs.

Machine tools and quantum

DMG MORI is investing $40.5 million in a Goose Island advanced manufacturing and R&D center with 65,000 square feet of production space and 74 new jobs. Its North American headquarters is in Hoffman Estates.

On the former U.S. Steel South Works site, the 440-acre Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is under construction. PsiQuantum’s first building is expected in 2028, and IBM plans 750 jobs there by 2030.

Where the talent sits: Chicago submarkets

South Chicago and the Calumet River

AutomotiveQuantum

Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant on the Calumet River and the quantum park on the South Works site.

North Chicago and Lake County

Pharmaceuticals

AbbVie’s headquarters campus and its new ingredient plants.

Will County

TrailersTraining

Hyundai Translead’s two plants and Joliet Junior College’s expanding trades programs.

Goose Island and the northwest suburbs

Machine tools

DMG MORI’s new Chicago center and its Hoffman Estates headquarters.

Belvidere and Rockford

AutomotiveAerospace

The Stellantis plant and the Rockford region’s aerospace makers, outside the Chicago metro.

What’s driving demand for industrial engineers in Chicago

New plants. Hyundai Translead’s two Will County plants helped push 2026 state EDGE job commitments to 3,275 by mid-March, more than the 2,900 committed in all of 2025.
Pharmaceuticals. AbbVie has announced $575 million and more than 350 jobs in North Chicago in six months, with its new plants due in 2029.
Belvidere. Stellantis announced a $600 million reopening plan in October 2025. Production is now targeted for 2027 to 2028, with help from a planned $3 billion Department of Energy loan, according to Rep. Darin LaHood.
Quantum. PsiQuantum’s first building on the quantum park is due in 2028, and IBM plans 750 jobs by 2030.
A steady base. Metro Chicago had about 410,300 manufacturing jobs in August 2026, up 0.8% from a year earlier.

The talent pipeline

UIC. The University of Illinois Chicago offers a BS in industrial engineering and a BS in engineering management through its Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.
Northwestern. Northwestern’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, founded in 1958, offers a BS in industrial engineering focused on optimization, logistics and data science.
Northern Illinois University. NIU’s BS in industrial and systems engineering is ABET accredited and offers a manufacturing systems emphasis, plus lean six sigma certificates.
City Colleges of Chicago. Its 61-hour Computer-Aided Drafting Engineering Technology degree covers CNC, robotics, metrology and CAM. DMG MORI is starting a training partnership with City Colleges.
Joliet Junior College. The college plans to expand welding, industrial maintenance, HVAC and electrical systems training for Hyundai Translead and other Will County employers.

What this means if you’re hiring

Chicago pays national rates. Plan on the 75th percentile ($126,580) for experienced engineers, close to the national figure of $129,250.
Several large employers are hiring at once. Hyundai Translead and AbbVie are staffing up now, the quantum park’s first building is due in 2028 and Belvidere targets 2028 production.
Process experience is in demand. AbbVie is hiring engineers for its ingredient plants, so candidates with pharmaceutical process experience will have options.
Build from technicians. City Colleges and Joliet Junior College graduates can grow into process and manufacturing engineering roles.

Need manufacturing engineers in Chicago?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place industrial, manufacturing, process and quality engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 847.994.3030 or see our Chicago engineering recruiters page.

Hire manufacturing engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do industrial engineers make in Chicago?

The median industrial engineer salary in metro Chicago is $101,760 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $82,260 and $126,580, and the top 10% earn $155,480 or more.

Do industrial engineers earn more in Chicago or Atlanta?

Atlanta pays slightly more. Chicago’s median is $101,760, about $540 below Atlanta’s $102,300, and both sit just under the national median of $102,440. See our Atlanta industrial engineer talent map.

Which new plants are hiring in the Chicago area?

The largest are Hyundai Translead’s two Will County plants, AbbVie’s ingredient plants in North Chicago, DMG MORI’s Goose Island center and the quantum park on the former South Works site. Stellantis plans to reopen its Belvidere plant for 2028 production.

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