Live in Illinois, work in Missouri
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Missouri takes
$1,883
on wages earned there
Illinois takes
$943
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,825
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itIllinois charges more, so its credit covers everything Missouri takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Illinois bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Illinois is the dearer of these two states, and that works in your favor here. Whatever Missouri takes out of your pay comes straight back off your Illinois bill. The total lands at $2,825, which is exactly what you would owe with a job at home. Do not mistake that for being untaxed by Missouri — it takes $1,883, and Illinois simply covers it.
- This is not one of the country's big crossings. 99,437 jobs in Missouri are held by people living in Illinois. The tax rules do not care about that — they are the same ones that apply to the busiest routes in the country. What can differ is how used to the paperwork your employer is.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Missouri takes its non-resident share first — $1,883 at the reference salary — and Illinois, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,825, identical to what an earner living and working in Illinois would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 99,437 jobs in Missouri held by Illinois residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,568
- Yours$58,025
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.76% | $3,568 |
| Yours77.37% | $58,025 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Missouri takes, on wages earned there | $1,883 |
|---|---|
| Illinois charges its residents | $2,825 |
| Less the credit Illinois gives | $1,883 |
| Total state tax | $2,825 |
| If you also worked in Illinois | $2,825 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Missouri is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Illinois residents.
- The figures take the simple case: one job, in Missouri, worked in person. Money from several states makes the credit a proportion instead of a cap. Working remotely from Illinois can pull you under a different rule entirely, depending on the state.
- The dollars rest on one assumed salary of sixty thousand. Double your pay and they do not simply double, because both states charge more on higher slices of income. What tends to stay put is which side of the Illinois and Missouri comparison you are on.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Missouri or Illinois carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Missouri and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Illinois limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Missouri portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Missouri rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Illinois to Missouri comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Missouri's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Illinois and Missouri?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Missouri taxes what you earn inside it. Illinois taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Missouri already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $2,825 a year on this route.
Does working in Missouri cost me anything extra?
Nothing extra, on this route. You end the year owing $2,825, exactly what you would owe if the job were in Illinois. That is not true of every crossing — plenty of them do cost money — but this one does not. What it does cost you is time at tax filing, because two states may each want a return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Illinois and Missouri?
Expect two. Living in Illinois means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Missouri usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Illinois some days instead of going to Missouri?
Normally, days worked at home in Illinois belong to Illinois, and only the days you spend in Missouri are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check Missouri's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Missouri on a source basis, Illinois on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,825 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Illinois's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Missouri's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,825. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Missouri.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Illinois requires a resident return reporting all income; Missouri requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Illinois fall outside Missouri's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Missouri throughout.