Commercial Pilots in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$91,358
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$34,742
27.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$92,416
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
$126,100
Kept after tax
$91,358
Worth in national money
$92,416
State rank
19
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for commercial pilots. The median is $126,100, ranking 19 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 33 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 $126,100 the take-home is $91,358, which is worth about $92,416 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $157,600, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for commercial pilots: a median of $126,100, ranking 19 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Illinois, commercial pilots ranks 33 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 commercial pilots on its $126,100 median: $91,358 retained after tax becomes $92,416 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $157,600 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $126,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $376,830 |
| This salary | $126,100 |
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 | $91,358 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $97,455 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,872 |
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 | $117,311 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,996 |
| 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 commercial pilots in Illinois earn under $126,100 and half over. The published range runs $51,890 at the tenth percentile to $376,830 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $91,358, from $126,100, 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 33 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 $92,416 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 33.
- Figures are distribution medians for commercial pilots in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,890 to $376,830; 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.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $91,358 from $126,100. 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 33 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $92,416, worked from $126,100, 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 33 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 $157,600, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $51,890, the highest tenth $376,830, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $92,416.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Illinois then takes its own share, leaving $91,358.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $157,600. 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 ($51,890) and the ninetieth ($376,830) 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 $92,416 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 $91,358 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.