Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,975
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$24,885
25.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,820
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
$97,860
Kept after tax
$72,975
Worth in national money
$73,820
State rank
16
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $97,860, putting the state 16 of 48 — about 4.94% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 90 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $97,860 the take-home is $72,975, which is worth about $73,820 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $100,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For chemistry teachers, postsecondary, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $97,860, ranking 16 of 48 and running about 4.94% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Illinois, chemistry teachers, postsecondary ranks 90 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for chemistry teachers, postsecondary on its $97,860 median: $72,975 retained after tax becomes $73,820 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $100,070 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $160,620 |
| This salary | $97,860 |
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 | $72,975 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,675 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,112 |
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 | $91,180 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,443 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $97,860 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,240 and the ninetieth is $160,620 — 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 $72,975, worked from $97,860. 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 90 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $73,820 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 90.
- The Illinois median of $97,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,240 to $160,620. 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 $72,975, on $97,860 for work ranking 90 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 90 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $73,820, worked from $97,860, 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 90 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $50,240, the highest tenth $160,620, 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 $73,820 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 $72,975 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 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($50,240) and the ninetieth ($160,620) 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 $73,820 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 $72,975 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.