r/chicago • u/AutoModerator • 2d ago
Welcome to r/Chicago's Weekly Casual Conversation & Questions Thread.
This is the place for casual discussions that may not warrant their own post, or questions/topics not allowed as their own posts under our content policy. Please be mindful of rules 2 & 3 which still apply in this thread, as well as the Reddit Content Policy when posting.
Also, check out the r/Chicago wiki for other Chicago-related subreddits, where to eat/drink, how to get around/navigate the CTA, where to visit, what neighborhoods to move to or hotel in, tips on living here, and more. And be sure to use the search feature to find responses to other users asking similar questions.
This thread is sorted by "new" so that the most recent comments appear first. The new weekly thread is posted every Monday morning at 12:00 AM.
r/chicago • u/AutoModerator • 21d ago
Welcome to the monthly /r/Chicago events thread. This is the place to advertise any upcoming events or group gatherings you're a part of or anticipating that other Chicagoans might want to know about.
This thread is exempt from Rule 8 regarding promotion, so we invite anyone and everyone to advertise anything going on in Chicago. But please be mindful of rules 2 & 3 which still apply in this thread, as well as the Reddit Content Policy when posting.
r/chicago • u/guanaco55 • 4h ago
r/chicago • u/2cleverbyhalf • 3h ago
r/chicago • u/Bollywood-bond • 11h ago
Identity crisis ahead?
r/chicago • u/No_Sleep428 • 7h ago
LSD IS A HIGHWAY. STOP PARKING THERE.
I’m waiting for the day we see someone get seriously hurt or worse because apparently parking on LSD is now a thing. Not only does it cause insane amount of traffic, there’s people walking around getting out of cars in the dark!!!
r/chicago • u/unapologetic403 • 7h ago
r/chicago • u/TheShipEliza • 1h ago
I would love to get one of these on a shirt or something.
r/chicago • u/booberryyogurt • 4h ago
r/chicago • u/HopsGrowler • 4h ago
Didn't catch his name
r/chicago • u/2cleverbyhalf • 12h ago
r/chicago • u/WayneZzWorld93 • 1d ago
I’m not even sure how you end up in this situation, but if you’re visiting, keep your scooter off the drive…
r/chicago • u/Infinite_Dress_3312 • 7h ago
r/chicago • u/Mike_I • 13h ago
r/chicago • u/NicolasCageFan492 • 9h ago
r/chicago • u/SciNat • 10h ago
r/chicago • u/blackmk8 • 13h ago
r/chicago • u/seej1171 • 9h ago
Boy howdy these are not thinking big and pretty underwhelming, imo. Capping the highways feels the closest to large ambition that would stand out to the world.
r/chicago • u/CleverAliases • 1d ago
I always love seeing the Amish walk out Union and just look around. I also love how other tourists are so confused as to why there are so many Amish.
What a neat quirk about our city!
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r/chicago • u/SnooCapers5354 • 1d ago
Operational turmoil, lawsuits, fines and a failure to pay suppliers led to Save A Lot’s troubles after promising to rebuild reputational damages in Chicago. That promise netted the operators a $13M deal with the city. Now it’s looking like that deal is going belly up.
r/chicago • u/splork-chop • 1d ago
I will update again later this week. I am a data scientist and this analysis was created with Claude code in about 5 minutes.
Data updated 7/22/2026 9:30AM CST
All graphs here: https://imgur.com/a/lgdPla7
Caveats: this is a self-selected Reddit sample, not a real wage survey. It skews toward salaried professionals, probably over-reports high earners, and a few joke entries snuck through. Salary/age/sex/education are whatever people typed. Ranges (e.g. "58–68k") became midpoints, hourly got annualized.
Reports: 926 (796 had age, 720 had sex, 761 had education)
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Reports (n) | 926 |
| Minimum | $22,000 |
| 25th percentile | $77,250 |
| Median | $106,000 |
| Mean | $135,804 |
| 75th percentile | $150,000 |
| Maximum | $900,000 |
Right-skewed — a dense core between ~$60k and $160k with a long high-earner tail (doctors, lawyers, execs, senior tech/sales) that drags the mean ~$30k above the median.
Chart: salary distribution histogram — https://imgur.com/5q2c5jX
| Sector | n | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🌭 Hot Dog Vendor | 1 | $313,000 | $313,000 |
| Tech / IT | 114 | $139,000 | $177,342 |
| Sales / Marketing | 87 | $125,000 | $144,764 |
| Engineering (non-software) | 43 | $120,000 | $144,493 |
| Legal | 37 | $120,000 | $176,162 |
| Management / Exec | 165 | $120,000 | $144,478 |
| Insurance / lending | 6 | $109,300 | $120,100 |
| Finance / Accounting | 92 | $108,500 | $143,662 |
| Skilled trades | 34 | $108,500 | $121,206 |
| Government / Public | 18 | $106,500 | $110,058 |
| Arts / Media | 33 | $102,000 | $124,352 |
| Healthcare | 63 | $100,000 | $146,550 |
| HR / people ops | 7 | $90,000 | $102,143 |
| Other / Unclassified | 89 | $85,000 | $119,190 |
| Supply chain / logistics | 15 | $83,000 | $100,733 |
| Education | 50 | $82,500 | $86,680 |
| Science / Research | 14 | $73,500 | $83,214 |
| Social services / Nonprofit | 14 | $70,500 | $77,714 |
| Service / Retail / Admin | 44 | $63,000 | $74,169 |
Roughly a 2× spread top to bottom. Legal, tech, and finance have the widest upper tails; skilled trades and engineering cluster more tightly. And yes, one guy reported "Hot dog vendor, 313k" — he gets his own category (and his own hot dog on the chart 🌭). Chart: Salary by sector — https://imgur.com/ynyvQTz, https://imgur.com/ZDPQVoG
| Age band | n | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| <25 | 32 | $84,500 | $86,150 |
| 25–29 | 204 | $90,000 | $108,322 |
| 30–34 | 237 | $110,000 | $144,326 |
| 35–39 | 184 | $125,000 | $155,267 |
| 40–44 | 85 | $118,000 | $140,547 |
| 45–49 | 33 | $135,000 | $160,667 |
| 50+ | 21 | $171,000 | $173,002 |
Climbs with age — but the linear trend is weak (salary rises ~$2.5k/yr of age, R² ≈ 0.03). The spread at any given age is way bigger than the trend; sector and role matter far more.
Chart: salary vs age scatter with linear trendline — https://imgur.com/sqRfne8
| Education | n | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| MBA | 29 | $185,000 | $183,448 |
| Professional (MD/JD/etc.) | 36 | $177,000 | $230,667 |
| Trade school | 7 | $115,000 | $87,971 |
| Bachelor's | 428 | $105,000 | $128,839 |
| Master's | 135 | $105,000 | $131,654 |
| High school / none | 51 | $100,000 | $116,946 |
| PhD | 29 | $97,000 | $136,259 |
| GED | 3 | $92,000 | $92,000 |
| Associate / Some college | 43 | $90,000 | $109,607 |
MBA and MD/JD lead. A bachelor's already hits a $105k median here. PhDs land lower — an artifact of how many are in academia/science roles.
Chart: salary by education boxplot — https://imgur.com/FsYpnbY
| Sex | n | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| F | 285 | $94,000 | $106,928 |
| M | 435 | $120,000 | $156,572 |
Men reported a ~22% higher median. That's partly a pay gap and partly composition — men are over-represented in the high-paying tech/finance/legal reports here, women in education/healthcare/social services. Not a like-for-like compare.
Chart: median by age band + sex — https://imgur.com/ZXAM7bt
r/chicago • u/jeremyckahn • 1d ago
Taken from the window.
r/chicago • u/genericotta • 2h ago
My dog loves exploring the city! Chicago has so many amazing murals, we'll definitely have to do another street art tour soon
