Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,234
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$17,086
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,909
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
$75,320
Kept after tax
$58,234
Worth in national money
$58,909
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $75,320, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 17.74% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Illinois, this sits in the middle: 178 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $75,320 the take-home is $58,234, which is worth about $58,909 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $74,630, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For elementary school teachers, except special education, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $75,320, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 17.74% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Elementary school teachers, except special education ranks 178 of 494 occupations in Illinois by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for elementary school teachers, except special education on its $75,320 median: $58,234 retained after tax becomes $58,909 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $74,630 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $105,250 |
| This salary | $75,320 |
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 | $58,234 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,818 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,706 |
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 | $70,226 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,501 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of elementary school teachers, except special education in Illinois earn under $75,320 and half over. The published range runs $47,040 at the tenth percentile to $105,250 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $58,234, worked from $75,320. 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 178 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $58,909, the adjusted value of that $75,320 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 178 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for elementary school teachers, except special education in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,040 to $105,250; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Illinois take-home of $58,234, on $75,320 for work ranking 178 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 178 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $58,909 — the adjusted value of that $75,320 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 178 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $47,040, the highest tenth $105,250, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $58,909 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 $58,234.
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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,040) and the ninetieth ($105,250) 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 $58,909 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 $58,234 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.