History Teachers, Postsecondary in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,872
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$20,068
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,611
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
$83,940
Kept after tax
$63,872
Worth in national money
$64,611
State rank
16
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $83,940, ranking 16 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 494 occupations Illinois reports, this job comes in at 119 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $83,940 the take-home is $63,872, which is worth about $64,611 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $87,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for history teachers, postsecondary: a median of $83,940, ranking 16 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- History teachers, postsecondary ranks 119 of 494 occupations by median in Illinois, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for history teachers, postsecondary on its $83,940 median: $63,872 retained after tax becomes $64,611 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $87,290 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: History Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,360 |
| This salary | $83,940 |
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 | $63,872 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,882 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,244 |
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 | $78,240 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,243 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $83,940 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,950 and the ninetieth is $132,360 — 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 $63,872, worked from $83,940. 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 119 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,611, the adjusted value of that $83,940 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 119 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $83,940 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,950 to $132,360. 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 $63,872, on $83,940 for work ranking 119 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 119 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $64,611 — the adjusted value of that $83,940 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 119 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 $87,290, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $46,950 at the bottom tenth to $132,360 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $64,611 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $63,872.
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 45 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 $87,290. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($46,950) and the ninetieth ($132,360) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $64,611 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 $63,872 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.