Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,281
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$7,449
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,655
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
$39,730
Kept after tax
$32,281
Worth in national money
$32,655
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 25 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $39,730. 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, this job ranks 428. 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 $39,730, take-home of $32,281 is worth roughly $32,655 in national money. The average comes to $43,040, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 25 of 50 for helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers at $39,730. 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, helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers ranks 428 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 helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers, whose median is $39,730, the adjusted figure of $32,655 differs little from $32,281 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,040 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,280 |
| This salary | $39,730 |
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 | $32,281 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,103 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,439 |
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 | $37,463 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,950 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,730 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $58,280 — 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 $32,281, worked from $39,730. 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 428 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,655 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 428.
- The Illinois median of $39,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $58,280. 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 $32,281, on $39,730 for work ranking 428 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 428 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,655, worked from $39,730, 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 428 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 $43,040, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,200 and the top tenth $58,280, 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 $32,655.
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 $32,281.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $43,040. 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 $58,280) 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 $32,655 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 $32,281 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.