Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,775
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,305
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,108
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
$35,080
Kept after tax
$28,775
Worth in national money
$29,108
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays food servers, nonrestaurant around $35,080 at the midpoint, 22 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 494 occupations Illinois publishes, food servers, nonrestaurant lands at 479. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $35,080, tax leaves $28,775, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $29,108 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $35,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food servers, nonrestaurant the Illinois median is $35,080, ranking 22 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Illinois, this work ranks 479 of 494 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for food servers, nonrestaurant — median $35,080 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $28,775 retained, $29,108 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $35,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,960 |
| This salary | $35,080 |
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 | $28,775 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,367 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,141 |
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 | $33,099 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,590 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,080 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $41,960 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $28,775, from $35,080, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 479 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,108 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 479.
- The Illinois median of $35,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $41,960. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $28,775 from $35,080. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 479 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,108, worked from $35,080, 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 479 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $41,960 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $29,108 in national terms.
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, $28,775 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $41,960) 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 $29,108 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 $28,775 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.