Food Processing Workers, All Other in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,511
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$8,829
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,934
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
$45,340
Kept after tax
$36,511
Worth in national money
$36,934
State rank
5
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food processing workers, all other is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $45,340, putting the state 5 of 46 — about 14.26% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Illinois, this one sits low: 394 of 494 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $45,340 the take-home is $36,511, which is worth about $36,934 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $44,230, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For food processing workers, all other, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,340, ranking 5 of 46 and running about 14.26% 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.
- Food processing workers, all other occupies position 394 of 494 in Illinois's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for food processing workers, all other on its $45,340 median: $36,511 retained after tax becomes $36,934 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $44,230 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Processing Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,440 |
| This salary | $45,340 |
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 | $36,511 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,611 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,799 |
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 | $42,727 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,385 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,340 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,710 and the ninetieth is $50,440 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $36,511, worked from $45,340. 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 394 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,934, the adjusted value of that $45,340 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 394 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $45,340 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,710 to $50,440. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Illinois take-home of $36,511, on $45,340 for work ranking 394 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 394 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $36,934 — the adjusted value of that $45,340 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 394 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,710 and the top tenth $50,440, so most people doing this work in Illinois sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $36,934 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, $36,511 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,710 to $50,440) 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 $36,934 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 $36,511 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.