Electricians in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,087
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$25,473
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,945
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
$99,560
Kept after tax
$74,087
Worth in national money
$74,945
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for electricians. The middle earner takes $99,560, which ranks 2 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 57.56% above the national middle.
- Within Illinois this is well-paid work. Of 494 occupations with published figures in the state, electricians ranks 84 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $99,560, take-home of $74,087 is worth roughly $74,945 in national money. The average lands at $92,230, below the middle of the range.
- Illinois ranks 2 of 51 states publishing a median for electricians, at $99,560 — about 57.56% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Illinois publishes a median for, electricians sits 84 of 494 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for electricians, whose median is $99,560, the adjusted figure of $74,945 differs little from $74,087 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $92,230 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Electricians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,660 |
| This salary | $99,560 |
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 | $74,087 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,870 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,218 |
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 | $92,761 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,589 |
| 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 $99,560. The published range is $49,240 up to $123,660, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $74,087, worked from $99,560. 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 84 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $74,945, the adjusted value of that $99,560 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 84 of 494 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for electricians in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,240 to $123,660. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Illinois take-home of $74,087, on $99,560 for work ranking 84 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 84 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $74,945 — the adjusted value of that $99,560 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 84 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 $92,230 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 $49,240 at the bottom tenth to $123,660 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 $74,945 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 $74,087 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $92,230. 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 ($49,240) and the ninetieth ($123,660) 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 $74,945 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 $74,087 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.