Funeral Attendants in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,235
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,455
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,574
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
$35,690
Kept after tax
$29,235
Worth in national money
$29,574
State rank
24
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 24 of 48 states for funeral attendants, with a middle wage of $35,690. 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, funeral attendants ranks 473. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $35,690 the take-home is $29,235, which is worth about $29,574 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $37,000, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois ranks 24 of 48 for funeral attendants at $35,690. 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, funeral attendants ranks 473 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for funeral attendants on its $35,690 median: $29,235 retained after tax becomes $29,574 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $37,000 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Funeral Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,140 |
| This salary | $35,690 |
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 | $29,235 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,857 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,180 |
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 | $33,671 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,637 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Illinois earn less than $35,690. The published range is $31,200 up to $45,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $29,235, from $35,690, 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 473 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 $29,574 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 473.
- Reported values are medians; for funeral attendants in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,200 to $45,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,235 from $35,690. 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 473 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,574, worked from $35,690, 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 473 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 $37,000 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,200 at the tenth percentile, $45,140 at the ninetieth.
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 $29,574 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Illinois adds its own income tax on top — which is why $29,235 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $37,000. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $45,140) 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 $29,574 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 $29,235 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.