Dental Hygienist Salary in Illinois: What Dental Hygienists Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$79,400
Median (50th)
$96,670
75th percentile
$101,800
National median
$98,100
BLS OEWS (SOC 29-1292), May 2025
What does a dental hygienist make in Illinois?
The median dental hygienist in Illinois earns $96,670 a year ($46.48 an hour), which is $1,430 below the national median of $98,100, and more than in nearby Wisconsin ($96,540), Missouri ($92,750) and Indiana ($92,330). The mean is $91,820.
That ranks 25th of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental hygienist median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Illinois
The middle half of Illinois dental hygienists earn $79,400 to $101,800. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $74,280, $600 below the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $118,410, $7,640 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Illinois
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Illinois's 2024 price level at 100.0 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run level with the national average, and housing (index 93.9) runs 6.1% below.
Converted to national average prices, the $96,670 median is worth about $96,710 — $1,390 below the national median of $98,100.
How many dental hygienists work in Illinois
BLS counts about 8,970 dental hygienist jobs in Illinois, 4.0% of the 222,740 nationwide, or 1.471 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dental hygienists hold a 3% larger share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 1.03).
Dental Hygienist Salary by City in Illinois
Across the 8 Illinois metro areas where BLS publishes a dental hygienist median, pay runs from $77,870 in Peoria to $100,260 in Chicago, a spread of $22,390.
All dental roles by metro: Bloomington · Champaign · Chicago · Kankakee · Peoria · Rockford · Springfield
Who's hiring dental hygienists in Illinois now
DentistryHires has 139 open dental hygienist listings in Illinois from 63 employers, the most of them in Chicago (13).
87 post hourly pay, from $28 to $75 an hour; 4 post a salary from $93,600 to $124,400 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Hygienist Regulatory Context in Illinois
Dental hygienist practice in Illinois is regulated by the Illinois Board of Dentistry.
Scope of practice — what a dental hygienist may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Illinois Compares
Other dental salaries in Illinois
- Dentist salary in Illinois: median $156,110, $59,440 above the dental hygienist median
- Dental Assistant salary in Illinois: median $48,610, $48,060 below the dental hygienist median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Illinois: median $51,380, $45,290 below the dental hygienist median
- Orthodontist salary in Illinois: median $343,100
- Oral Surgeon salary in Illinois: median $70,220
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.