Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,557
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$25,193
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,409
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
$98,750
Kept after tax
$73,557
Worth in national money
$74,409
State rank
15
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $98,750, which ranks 15 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 1.83% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 88 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $98,750, take-home of $73,557 is worth roughly $74,409 in national money. The average comes to $103,710, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 15 of 48 states publishing a median for computer science teachers, postsecondary, at $98,750 — about 1.83% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Illinois, computer science teachers, postsecondary ranks 88 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.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for computer science teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $98,750, the adjusted figure of $74,409 differs little from $73,557 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $103,710 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $165,810 |
| This salary | $98,750 |
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 | $73,557 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,301 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,168 |
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 | $92,008 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,519 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $98,750 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,860 and the ninetieth is $165,810 — 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 $73,557, worked from $98,750. 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 88 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $74,409, the adjusted value of that $98,750 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 88 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $98,750 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,860 to $165,810. 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 $73,557, on $98,750 for work ranking 88 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 88 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $74,409 — the adjusted value of that $98,750 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 88 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $103,710, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $42,860 and the top tenth $165,810 — 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 $74,409 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $73,557 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $103,710. 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 ($42,860) and the ninetieth ($165,810) 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 $74,409 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 $73,557 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.