Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,552
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$9,168
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,987
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
$46,720
Kept after tax
$37,552
Worth in national money
$37,987
State rank
17
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,720, ranking 17 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Illinois, this one sits low: 373 of 494 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $46,720 the take-home is $37,552, which is worth about $37,987 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $54,760, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys: a median of $46,720, ranking 17 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys occupies position 373 of 494 in Illinois's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys on its $46,720 median: $37,552 retained after tax becomes $37,987 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $54,760 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,720 |
| This salary | $46,720 |
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 | $37,552 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,720 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,888 |
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 | $44,022 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,492 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,720 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $82,720 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $37,552, worked from $46,720. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 373 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,987, the adjusted value of that $46,720 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 373 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $46,720 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $82,720. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Illinois take-home of $37,552, on $46,720 for work ranking 373 of 494 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 373 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $37,987 — the adjusted value of that $46,720 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 373 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 $54,760 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 $31,200, the highest tenth $82,720, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Illinois sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $37,987 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $37,552 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $54,760. 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 ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($82,720) 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 $37,987 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 $37,552 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.