Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,389
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$13,031
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,962
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
$62,420
Kept after tax
$49,389
Worth in national money
$49,962
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays this job around $62,420 at the midpoint, 26 of 51 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 240.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $62,420, take-home of $49,389 is worth roughly $49,962 in national money. The average comes to $70,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors the Illinois median is $62,420, ranking 26 of 51 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, educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors sits at 240 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.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors, whose median is $62,420, the adjusted figure of $49,962 differs little from $49,389 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $70,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $110,580 |
| This salary | $62,420 |
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 | $49,389 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,334 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,894 |
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 | $58,755 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,710 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $62,420 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,890 and the ninetieth is $110,580 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $49,389, from $62,420, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 240 of 494 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $49,962, the adjusted value of that $62,420 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 240 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $62,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,890 to $110,580. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,389 from $62,420. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 240 of 494 locally.
- This $49,962 adjusted figure, worked from $62,420, 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 240 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 240 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 $70,230, 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 $44,890 at the bottom tenth to $110,580 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Illinois is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $49,962 in national terms.
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 $49,389.
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 $70,230. 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 ($44,890) and the ninetieth ($110,580) 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 $49,962 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 $49,389 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.