Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$82,406
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$29,874
26.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,360
Illinois costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Illinois — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$112,280
Kept after tax
$82,406
Worth in national money
$83,360
State rank
10
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for atmospheric and space scientists. The middle earner takes $112,280, which ranks 10 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 13.33% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 43 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $112,280, take-home of $82,406 is worth roughly $83,360 in national money. The average comes to $147,860, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 10 of 47 states publishing a median for atmospheric and space scientists, at $112,280 — about 13.33% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Illinois, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 43 of 494 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for atmospheric and space scientists, whose median is $112,280, the adjusted figure of $83,360 differs little from $82,406 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $147,860 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $112,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $211,910 |
| This salary | $112,280 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Illinois | $82,406 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $87,819 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,012 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $104,586 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,685 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $112,280 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,710 and the ninetieth is $211,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $82,406, from $112,280, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 43 of 494 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $83,360, the adjusted value of that $112,280 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 43 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $112,280 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,710 to $211,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $82,406 from $112,280. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 43 of 494 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $83,360 — the adjusted value of that $112,280 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 43 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $147,860 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $51,710, the highest tenth $211,910, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Illinois is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $83,360 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Illinois adds its own income tax on top — which is why $82,406 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Illinois is $147,860. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($51,710) and the ninetieth ($211,910) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Illinois's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $83,360 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $82,406 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Illinois income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.