Get Retirement Resources - Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund

The pension payout formula is based on Chicago teachers paying 9 percent of their salaries toward their pensions. In practice, CPS picks up 7 of the 9 percent required employee contribution. Teachers contribute an additional 2 percent of their salaries themselves.

The average Chicago teacher pension is about $49,000 a year, but there are more than 1,100 teachers who take home six-figure pensions.

Chicago Public Schools teachers can retire as young as 55, receive up to 75% of their final average salary in pension benefits and receive 3% compounded annual post-retirement increases regardless of inflation. That 3% permanent annual raise doubles the size of the first-year pension benefit after 25 years.

With the state of Illinois projected to pay $245.5 million in FY2020 for teacher pension normal costs, CPS is still on the hook for approximately 71% of the statutorily required employer contribution.

Discussion: The average annual pension for a retired Illinois teacher in fiscal year 2019 was $58,860.

With the state of Illinois projected to pay $245.5 million in FY2020 for teacher pension normal costs, CPS is still on the hook for approximately 71% of the statutorily required employer contribution.

But when it comes to public school teachers in Illinois, paying their own way to retirement isn't the norm. ... This subsidy is on top of what the state and by extension, state taxpayers pay into the teachers' retirement funds through district-paid employer contributions and state funding.

The average Chicago teacher pension is about $49,000 a year, but there are more than 1,100 teachers who take home six-figure pensions.

The average Chicago teacher pension is about $49,000 a year, but there are more than 1,100 teachers who take home six-figure pensions.

The pension payout formula is based on Chicago teachers paying 9 percent of their salaries toward their pensions. In practice, CPS picks up 7 of the 9 percent required employee contribution. Teachers contribute an additional 2 percent of their salaries themselves.