Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,787
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$11,203
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,294
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
$54,990
Kept after tax
$43,787
Worth in national money
$44,294
State rank
17
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $54,990, ranking 17 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Illinois reports figures for, this is number 302.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $54,990, tax leaves $43,787, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $44,294 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $55,790, since top earners drag the number up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers: a median of $54,990, ranking 17 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Illinois's occupational distribution, jewelers and precious stone and metal workers sits at 302 of 494 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers — median $54,990 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $43,787 retained, $44,294 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $55,790 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,580 |
| This salary | $54,990 |
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 | $43,787 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,364 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,418 |
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 | $51,783 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,134 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of jewelers and precious stone and metal workers in Illinois earn under $54,990 and half over. The published range runs $32,430 at the tenth percentile to $78,580 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $43,787, from $54,990, 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 302 of 494 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,294, the adjusted value of that $54,990 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 302 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,430 to $78,580; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $43,787 from $54,990. 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 302 of 494 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $44,294 — the adjusted value of that $54,990 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 302 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $32,430 at the bottom tenth to $78,580 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $44,294.
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 $43,787 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 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($32,430) and the ninetieth ($78,580) 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 $44,294 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 $43,787 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.