Fast Food and Counter Workers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,893
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,017
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,216
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
$33,910
Kept after tax
$27,893
Worth in national money
$28,216
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for fast food and counter workers is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $33,910, putting the state 14 of 51 — about 8.69% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, fast food and counter workers ranks 486. 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 $33,910, take-home of $27,893 is worth roughly $28,216 in national money. The average comes to $34,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For fast food and counter workers, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $33,910, ranking 14 of 51 and running about 8.69% 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.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, fast food and counter workers ranks 486 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 fast food and counter workers, whose median is $33,910, the adjusted figure of $28,216 differs little from $27,893 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $34,280 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: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,330 |
| This salary | $33,910 |
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 | $27,893 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,066 |
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 | $32,001 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,499 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $33,910 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $37,330 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $27,893 take-home in Illinois comes from $33,910. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 486 of 494.
- Two cautions on $28,216, the adjusted value of that $33,910 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 486 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $33,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $37,330. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $27,893, from $33,910, assumes a single Illinois filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 486 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 51 for it.
- This $28,216 adjusted figure, worked from $33,910, 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 486 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 486 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,200 and the top tenth $37,330, so most people doing this work in Illinois sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $28,216.
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 $27,893.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $37,330) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Illinois rather than a national figure.
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 $28,216 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 $27,893 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.