Chief Executives in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$218,745
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$113,175
34.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$221,278
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
$331,920
Kept after tax
$218,745
Worth in national money
$221,278
State rank
3
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Illinois pays chief executives a middle wage of $331,920, ranking 3 of 46 states and sitting about 55.11% above the national middle.
- Within Illinois this is well-paid work. Of 494 occupations with published figures in the state, chief executives ranks 1 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $331,920, take-home of $218,745 is worth roughly $221,278 in national money. The average comes to $347,550, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois's median for chief executives is $331,920, about 55.11% above the national figure and 3 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Illinois publishes a median for, chief executives sits 1 of 494 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for chief executives, whose median is $331,920, the adjusted figure of $221,278 differs little from $218,745 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $347,550 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chief Executives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $133,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $331,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $589,720 |
| This salary | $331,920 |
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 | $218,745 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $235,175 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,733 |
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 | $305,695 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$32,159 |
| 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 chief executives in Illinois earn under $331,920 and half over. The published range runs $133,170 at the tenth percentile to $589,720 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $218,745 take-home in Illinois comes from $331,920. 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 1 of 494.
- Two cautions on $221,278, the adjusted value of that $331,920 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Illinois. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 1 of 494 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for chief executives in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $133,170 to $589,720; 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 $218,745, from $331,920, 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 1 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 46 for it.
- This $221,278 adjusted figure, worked from $331,920, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 1 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 1 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 $347,550, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $133,170 and the top tenth $589,720 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $221,278 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $218,745 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 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 $347,550. 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 ($133,170) and the ninetieth ($589,720) 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 $221,278 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 $218,745 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.