Helpers--Production Workers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,601
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$7,879
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,990
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
$41,480
Kept after tax
$33,601
Worth in national money
$33,990
State rank
23
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays helpers--production workers around $41,480 at the midpoint, 23 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 494 occupations Illinois publishes, helpers--production workers lands at 419. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $41,480, tax leaves $33,601, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $33,990 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $44,570, since top earners drag the number up.
- For helpers--production workers the Illinois median is $41,480, ranking 23 of 49 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 419 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 helpers--production workers — median $41,480 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $33,601 retained, $33,990 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $44,570 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Helpers--Production Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,590 |
| This salary | $41,480 |
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 | $33,601 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,509 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,552 |
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 | $39,105 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,086 |
| 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 $41,480. The published range is $36,550 up to $59,590, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $33,601, from $41,480, 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 419 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 $33,990 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 419.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--production workers in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,550 to $59,590. 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 $33,601 from $41,480. 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 419 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,990, worked from $41,480, 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 419 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $44,570, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,550 at the bottom tenth to $59,590 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $33,990.
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 $33,601.
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 49 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 $44,570. 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 ($36,550 to $59,590) 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 $33,990 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 $33,601 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.