Curators in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,872
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$13,188
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,450
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
$63,060
Kept after tax
$49,872
Worth in national money
$50,450
State rank
20
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for curators. The median is $63,060, ranking 20 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Illinois reports figures for, this is number 232.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $63,060 the take-home is $49,872, which is worth about $50,450 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $68,940, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for curators: a median of $63,060, ranking 20 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Illinois's occupational distribution, curators sits at 232 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for curators on its $63,060 median: $49,872 retained after tax becomes $50,450 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $68,940 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,990 |
| This salary | $63,060 |
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 | $49,872 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,849 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,935 |
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 | $59,355 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,759 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,060 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,490 and the ninetieth is $107,990 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $49,872 take-home in Illinois comes from $63,060. 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 232 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,450, the adjusted value of that $63,060 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 232 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $63,060 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,490 to $107,990. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $49,872, from $63,060, 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 232 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $50,450 — the adjusted value of that $63,060 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 232 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $68,940 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,490 at the bottom tenth to $107,990 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $50,450.
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 $49,872.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $68,940. 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 ($36,490) and the ninetieth ($107,990) 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 $50,450 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 $49,872 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.