Buyers and Purchasing Agents in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,294
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$18,176
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,993
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
$78,470
Kept after tax
$60,294
Worth in national money
$60,993
State rank
15
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Illinois pays buyers and purchasing agents a middle wage of $78,470, ranking 15 of 51 states and sitting about 0.98% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Illinois, this sits in the middle: 153 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $78,470 the take-home is $60,294, which is worth about $60,993 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $83,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois's median for buyers and purchasing agents is $78,470, about 0.98% above the national figure and 15 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Buyers and purchasing agents ranks 153 of 494 occupations in Illinois by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for buyers and purchasing agents on its $78,470 median: $60,294 retained after tax becomes $60,993 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $83,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Buyers and Purchasing Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,640 |
| This salary | $78,470 |
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 | $60,294 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,034 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,903 |
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 | $73,154 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,772 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Illinois earn less than $78,470. The published range is $50,710 up to $126,640, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $60,294, from $78,470, 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 153 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,993 uses one figure for the whole of Illinois. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 153.
- Reported values are medians; for buyers and purchasing agents in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,710 to $126,640. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $60,294 from $78,470. 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 153 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,993, worked from $78,470, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Illinois address, on work sitting at 153 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 $83,220 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 $50,710, the highest tenth $126,640, 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 $60,993 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, $60,294 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 $83,220. 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 ($50,710) and the ninetieth ($126,640) 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 $60,993 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 $60,294 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.