Bakers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,245
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,785
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,596
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
$37,030
Kept after tax
$30,245
Worth in national money
$30,596
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays bakers around $37,030 at the midpoint, 23 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 494 occupations Illinois publishes, bakers lands at 455. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $37,030, take-home of $30,245 is worth roughly $30,596 in national money. The average comes to $38,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For bakers the Illinois median is $37,030, ranking 23 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Illinois, this work ranks 455 of 494 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for bakers, whose median is $37,030, the adjusted figure of $30,596 differs little from $30,245 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $38,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,290 |
| This salary | $37,030 |
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 | $30,245 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,934 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,266 |
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 | $34,929 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,741 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of bakers in Illinois earn under $37,030 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $47,290 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,245 take-home in Illinois comes from $37,030. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 455 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,596, the adjusted value of that $37,030 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 455 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for bakers in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $47,290; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $30,245, from $37,030, assumes a single Illinois filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 455 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $30,596 — the adjusted value of that $37,030 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 455 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $38,960, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,200 at the tenth percentile, $47,290 at the ninetieth.
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 $30,596 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Illinois's own levy, $30,245 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $38,960. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $47,290) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Illinois rather than a national figure.
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 $30,596 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 $30,245 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.