He transferred in 1989 to Niles College Seminary of Loyola University Chicago, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992.

Tylka was appointed pastor of St. Paul VI Parish in North Riverside, Illinois in 2004, remaining there for the next 10 years.

[6] Tylka was consecrated at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria by Cardinal Blase Cupich on July 23, 2020, with Archbishops Christophe Pierre and Jerome Listecki serving as co-consecrators.

[6][a] On August 25, 2021, Tylka said that Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who served as a priest in Peoria, should be canonized (made a saint).

[7] When Jenky's retirement was accepted by Pope Francis on March 3, 2022, Tylka automatically became the new bishop of the Diocese of Peoria.