High paying construction jobs in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN with no experience

The best paid construction occupations in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN that require neither a degree nor prior experience in a related job. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN run 3.6% above the national average (2024), so a Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN salary is worth about 0.97× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find construction jobs in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

OccupationMedian, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN · Employed

1Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$103,380
High school diploma or equivalent
$53,960 – $127,20012,750
2Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$103,100
High school diploma or equivalent
$58,060 – $124,1607,930
3Electricians$102,350
High school diploma or equivalent
$49,890 – $124,07017,720
4Structural Iron and Steel Workers$102,350
High school diploma or equivalent
$64,620 – $124,5302,120
5Sheet Metal Workers$95,310
High school diploma or equivalent
$42,220 – $122,3302,430
6Brickmasons and Blockmasons$89,980
High school diploma or equivalent
$46,960 – $109,8702,140
7Roofers$82,090
No formal educational credential
$48,770 – $106,7803,900
8Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$81,020
No formal educational credential
$50,730 – $108,8903,890
9Carpenters$80,440
High school diploma or equivalent
$41,220 – $118,45014,220
10Highway Maintenance Workers$76,220
High school diploma or equivalent
$42,110 – $102,5304,110
11Painters, Construction and Maintenance$61,740
No formal educational credential
$44,560 – $109,8205,480
12Hazardous Materials Removal Workers$61,330
High school diploma or equivalent
$45,330 – $97,1601,580
13Construction Laborers$60,890
No formal educational credential
$39,100 – $105,50026,690

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$103,380	$53,960 – $127,200	12,750
2	Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$103,100	$58,060 – $124,160	7,930
3	ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$102,350	$49,890 – $124,070	17,720
4	Structural Iron and Steel WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$102,350	$64,620 – $124,530	2,120
5	Sheet Metal WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$95,310	$42,220 – $122,330	2,430
6	Brickmasons and BlockmasonsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$89,980	$46,960 – $109,870	2,140
7	RoofersNo formal educational credential	$82,090	$48,770 – $106,780	3,900
8	Cement Masons and Concrete FinishersNo formal educational credential	$81,020	$50,730 – $108,890	3,890
9	CarpentersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$80,440	$41,220 – $118,450	14,220
10	Highway Maintenance WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$76,220	$42,110 – $102,530	4,110
11	Painters, Construction and MaintenanceNo formal educational credential	$61,740	$44,560 – $109,820	5,480
12	Hazardous Materials Removal WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$61,330	$45,330 – $97,160	1,580
13	Construction LaborersNo formal educational credential	$60,890	$39,100 – $105,500	26,690

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

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The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN to rank honestly.

High paying construction jobs in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN with no experience

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