Cooks, Fast Food in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,685
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,275
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,017
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
$34,960
Kept after tax
$28,685
Worth in national money
$29,017
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Illinois pays cooks, fast food a middle wage of $34,960, ranking 14 of 51 states and sitting about 13.18% above the national middle.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, fast food ranks 480. 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 $34,960, take-home of $28,685 is worth roughly $29,017 in national money. The average comes to $35,340, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois's median for cooks, fast food is $34,960, about 13.18% above the national figure and 14 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, cooks, fast food ranks 480 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 cooks, fast food, whose median is $34,960, the adjusted figure of $29,017 differs little from $28,685 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $35,340 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $40,580 |
| This salary | $34,960 |
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 | $28,685 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,270 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,133 |
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 | $32,986 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,580 |
| 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 $34,960. The published range is $31,200 up to $40,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $28,685 take-home in Illinois comes from $34,960. 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 480 of 494.
- Two cautions on $29,017, the adjusted value of that $34,960 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 480 of 494 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, fast food in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,200 to $40,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $28,685, from $34,960, 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 480 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 51 for it.
- This $29,017 adjusted figure, worked from $34,960, 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 480 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 480 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 $40,580 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $29,017 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, $28,685 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $40,580) 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 $29,017 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 $28,685 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.