Education Administrators, Postsecondary in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,224
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$25,546
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,084
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
$99,770
Kept after tax
$74,224
Worth in national money
$75,084
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $99,770, ranking 38 of 51 states — about 4.61% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 494 occupations Illinois reports, this job comes in at 81 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $99,770 the take-home is $74,224, which is worth about $75,084 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $108,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois ranks 38 of 51 for education administrators, postsecondary, with a median of $99,770 — about 4.61% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Education administrators, postsecondary ranks 81 of 494 occupations by median in Illinois, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for education administrators, postsecondary on its $99,770 median: $74,224 retained after tax becomes $75,084 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $108,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Education Administrators, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $172,540 |
| This salary | $99,770 |
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 | $74,224 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,018 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,231 |
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 | $92,956 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,607 |
| 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 $99,770. The published range is $62,270 up to $172,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $74,224 take-home in Illinois comes from $99,770. 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 81 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $75,084, the adjusted value of that $99,770 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 81 of 494 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for education administrators, postsecondary in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,270 to $172,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $74,224, from $99,770, 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 81 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $75,084 — the adjusted value of that $99,770 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 81 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 $108,130, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $62,270 at the bottom tenth to $172,540 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 $75,084 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 $74,224.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $108,130. 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 ($62,270) and the ninetieth ($172,540) 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 $75,084 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 $74,224 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.