Childcare Workers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,341
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,489
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,680
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
$35,830
Kept after tax
$29,341
Worth in national money
$29,680
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 18 of 51 states for childcare workers, with a middle wage of $35,830. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, childcare workers ranks 472. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $35,830, take-home of $29,341 is worth roughly $29,680 in national money. The average comes to $36,560, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 18 of 51 for childcare workers at $35,830. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, childcare workers ranks 472 of 494, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for childcare workers, whose median is $35,830, the adjusted figure of $29,680 differs little from $29,341 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $36,560 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,980 |
| This salary | $35,830 |
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 | $29,341 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,969 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,189 |
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 | $33,803 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,648 |
| 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 childcare workers in Illinois earn under $35,830 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $44,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,341 take-home in Illinois comes from $35,830. 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 472 of 494.
- Two cautions on $29,680, the adjusted value of that $35,830 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 472 of 494 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for childcare workers in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $44,980; 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 $29,341, from $35,830, 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 472 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 51 for it.
- This $29,680 adjusted figure, worked from $35,830, 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 472 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 472 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $44,980 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $29,680.
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 $29,341 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $44,980) 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 $29,680 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 $29,341 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.