Phlebotomist Salary in Illinois
Illinois pays a BLS mean of $45,360 per year ($21.81 per hour) for phlebotomy, above the national average. The Chicago metropolitan area dominates the state job market and hosts a dense cluster of major academic medical centers along with Advocate Aurora Health (the largest health system in the state) and a strong community-college training pipeline via the City Colleges of Chicago system.
Chicago metro pay and employer landscape
The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metropolitan area employs the vast majority of Illinois phlebotomists. BLS reports a metro mean of $46,800 per year ($22.50 per hour); 90th percentile reaches $58,200. The city core (Loop, Streeterville, River North, Lincoln Park) houses the academic medical center cluster; suburban facilities across Cook, DuPage, Lake, and Will counties round out the employer base.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Streeterville (the flagship of the Northwestern Medicine system) is the top-paying academic medical center in the metro. Credentialed phlebotomy step-1 pay sits in the $24 to $28 per hour range, with top-step rates reaching $34 to $38 per hour. Strong tuition reimbursement and access to Feinberg School of Medicine research and educational programs.
Rush University Medical Center on the West Loop, the University of Chicago Medicine on the South Side (Hyde Park), and Lurie Children's Hospital on Streeterville (paediatric) round out the top-tier academic medical center group. All three prefer ASCP PBT at hire and pay at the top of the metro range.
Advocate Aurora Health (the merger of Advocate Health Care in Illinois with Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin) is the largest health system in Illinois by facility count and employee headcount, operating 25+ hospitals across the Chicago metro and downstate plus 35+ in Wisconsin. Pay sits slightly below the top academic medical centers but with strong benefits and a broad internal mobility footprint.
Other major employers. Loyola Medicine (Maywood and Burr Ridge), AMITA Health (now part of Ascension), Endeavor Health (the recent merger of NorthShore University HealthSystem with Edward-Elmhurst Health), the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (the public-hospital system), Sinai Chicago, and the four major reference lab operators (Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp, Sonic Healthcare USA CBLPath, and ACL Laboratories) all employ significant phlebotomy workforces across the metro.
City Colleges of Chicago: the low-cost training pathway
The City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) system operates seven community colleges across the city, with the School of Health Sciences concentrated at Malcolm X College on the Near West Side. CCC phlebotomy is a one-semester certificate program running approximately 16 weeks, including didactic instruction, lab practice, and a clinical practicum at one of CCC's hospital partners (typically Stroger Hospital, Rush, or Northwestern).
Tuition for Chicago residents is approximately $1,100 to $1,600 for the full certificate, depending on credit hour mix. CCC also accepts Federal Pell Grant funding (need-based, up to $7,395 per academic year in 2025-2026) which can fully cover tuition for qualifying students. Veterans benefits are accepted. The combination makes CCC one of the most affordable phlebotomy training pathways in any major US metro.
CCC graduates typically sit for the NHA CPT exam at the end of the program (some sit for ASCP PBT after meeting clinical hour minimums). Job placement support through CCC's career services connects graduates with Quest, LabCorp, Stroger, Sinai Chicago, and community hospital partners across the metro. Many CCC graduates find their first phlebotomy job within 60 to 90 days of program completion.
Downstate Illinois markets
Outside the Chicago metro, Illinois phlebotomy employment clusters in a handful of mid-size metros. Springfield (state capital, anchored by Memorial Health and HSHS Hospital Sisters Health System) pays approximately $42,400 per year. Peoria (OSF HealthCare's Saint Francis Medical Center, a major tertiary center for downstate central Illinois) pays around $41,800. Rockford (UW Health SwedishAmerican Hospital, Mercyhealth) pays approximately $43,200. Champaign-Urbana (Carle Foundation Hospital, OSF Heart of Mary) sits at approximately $42,000. The Quad Cities (Genesis Health System, UnityPoint Health-Trinity, straddling the Iowa border) and Bloomington-Normal (Carle BroMenn Medical Center) round out the downstate phlebotomy employer base.
Downstate Illinois COL is meaningfully below Chicago: BEA RPP for these metros runs 88 to 94 versus Chicago metro 101 to 103. Real-purchasing-power phlebotomy pay downstate is often comparable to Chicago net of housing differential. Property taxes are still relatively high (Illinois statewide effective rate 2.07 percent is the second-highest in the country after New Jersey), but downstate home prices are 40 to 60 percent below Chicago metro equivalents.
Frequently asked questions
How much do phlebotomists make in Illinois?
Illinois reports a BLS OEWS May 2024 state mean of $45,360 per year ($21.81 per hour), above the national mean. The 10th percentile is approximately $33,200; 25th $38,800; 75th $50,100; 90th $56,400. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro leads at $46,800; downstate metros (Springfield, Peoria, Rockford, Decatur) sit closer to the state mean at $40,000 to $43,000.
Does Illinois require a phlebotomy license?
No, Illinois does not require state-level phlebotomy licensure. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation licenses clinical laboratory scientists and medical laboratory technicians but exempts phlebotomy. National credentials (ASCP PBT, NHA CPT, AMT RPT) are accepted at all Illinois employers.
What is the City Colleges of Chicago phlebotomy pathway?
City Colleges of Chicago (the seven CCC campuses) offers low-cost phlebotomy training as a one-semester certificate program at Malcolm X College's School of Health Sciences and at several other CCC campuses. Tuition for Chicago residents is approximately $1,100 to $1,600 for the full certificate, well below private vocational school alternatives. Many CCC graduates sit for the NHA CPT exam at the end of the program and find immediate hiring at Quest, LabCorp, or community hospital systems across the metro.
Which Chicago hospital pays phlebotomists the most?
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Medical Center, the University of Chicago Medicine, and Lurie Children's Hospital sit at the top of the metro range with credentialed phlebotomy step-1 pay around $24 to $28 per hour rising to $32 to $38 per hour at top step. All four prefer ASCP PBT and publish formal credentialed-staff differentials. Advocate Aurora Health, the largest health system in Illinois and Wisconsin, offers competitive pay at slightly below the top academic medical centers.
How does Illinois income tax affect phlebotomy take-home?
Illinois has a flat-rate state income tax of 4.95 percent on all income. A phlebotomist earning the state mean of $45,360 pays approximately $2,245 in Illinois state tax. The flat rate is easier to plan against than tiered systems in California or New York, and the absolute tax burden sits in the middle of US states. Chicago does not levy an additional municipal income tax on residents, unlike NYC. Illinois local property taxes are high (state effective rate around 2.07 percent, second-highest in the US after New Jersey), so homeowners feel more tax burden than renters.