Communications Teachers, Postsecondary in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,085
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$18,065
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,781
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
$78,150
Kept after tax
$60,085
Worth in national money
$60,781
State rank
17
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays this job around $78,150 at the midpoint, 17 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Illinois reports figures for, this is number 158.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $78,150, tax leaves $60,085, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $60,781 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $80,140, since top earners drag the number up.
- For communications teachers, postsecondary the Illinois median is $78,150, ranking 17 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Illinois's occupational distribution, communications teachers, postsecondary sits at 158 of 494 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for communications teachers, postsecondary — median $78,150 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $60,085 retained, $60,781 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $80,140 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,210 |
| This salary | $78,150 |
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 | $60,085 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,809 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,883 |
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 | $72,857 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,745 |
| 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 $78,150. The published range is $46,730 up to $118,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $60,085, worked from $78,150. 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 158 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $60,781, the adjusted value of that $78,150 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 158 of 494 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for communications teachers, postsecondary in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,730 to $118,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Illinois take-home of $60,085, on $78,150 for work ranking 158 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 158 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $60,781 — the adjusted value of that $78,150 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 158 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $46,730 at the bottom tenth to $118,210 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $60,781 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $60,085.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($46,730) and the ninetieth ($118,210) 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 $60,781 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 $60,085 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.