Emergency Medical Technicians in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,189
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$8,071
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,585
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
$42,260
Kept after tax
$34,189
Worth in national money
$34,585
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 26 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $42,260. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 414. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $42,260, take-home of $34,189 is worth roughly $34,585 in national money. The average comes to $56,080, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 26 of 51 for emergency medical technicians at $42,260. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, emergency medical technicians ranks 414 of 494, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for emergency medical technicians, whose median is $42,260, the adjusted figure of $34,585 differs little from $34,189 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $56,080 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Emergency Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,490 |
| This salary | $42,260 |
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 | $34,189 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,136 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,602 |
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 | $39,837 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,146 |
| 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 emergency medical technicians in Illinois earn under $42,260 and half over. The published range runs $36,420 at the tenth percentile to $135,490 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 $34,189, worked from $42,260. 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 414 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,585, the adjusted value of that $42,260 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 414 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for emergency medical technicians in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,420 to $135,490; 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 $34,189, on $42,260 for work ranking 414 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 414 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $34,585 — the adjusted value of that $42,260 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 414 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 $56,080 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $36,420 and the top tenth $135,490 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $34,585 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 $34,189.
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 $56,080. 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 ($36,420) and the ninetieth ($135,490) 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 $34,585 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 $34,189 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.