Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,335
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$19,255
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,057
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
$81,590
Kept after tax
$62,335
Worth in national money
$63,057
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 21 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $81,590. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Illinois, this sits in the middle: 130 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $81,590, take-home of $62,335 is worth roughly $63,057 in national money. The average comes to $92,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 21 of 51 for environmental scientists and specialists, including health at $81,590. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Environmental scientists and specialists, including health ranks 130 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.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for environmental scientists and specialists, including health, whose median is $81,590, the adjusted figure of $63,057 differs little from $62,335 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $92,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $153,150 |
| This salary | $81,590 |
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 | $62,335 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,229 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,097 |
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 | $76,055 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,041 |
| 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 environmental scientists and specialists, including health in Illinois earn under $81,590 and half over. The published range runs $46,540 at the tenth percentile to $153,150 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 $62,335, worked from $81,590. 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 130 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,057 uses one figure for the whole of Illinois. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 130.
- Figures are distribution medians for environmental scientists and specialists, including health in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,540 to $153,150; 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 $62,335, on $81,590 for work ranking 130 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 130 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,057, worked from $81,590, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Illinois address, on work sitting at 130 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $92,260, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $46,540, the highest tenth $153,150, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $63,057 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Illinois's own levy, $62,335 remains.
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.
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 $92,260. 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 ($46,540) and the ninetieth ($153,150) 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 $63,057 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 $62,335 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.