Labor Relations Specialists in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,109
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$27,071
26.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,002
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
$104,180
Kept after tax
$77,109
Worth in national money
$78,002
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for labor relations specialists. The middle earner takes $104,180, which ranks 5 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 9.18% above the national middle.
- Within Illinois this is well-paid work. Of 494 occupations with published figures in the state, labor relations specialists ranks 65 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $104,180, take-home of $77,109 is worth roughly $78,002 in national money. The average lands at $102,970, below the middle of the range.
- Illinois ranks 5 of 51 states publishing a median for labor relations specialists, at $104,180 — about 9.18% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Illinois publishes a median for, labor relations specialists sits 65 of 494 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for labor relations specialists, whose median is $104,180, the adjusted figure of $78,002 differs little from $77,109 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $102,970 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Labor Relations Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $144,200 |
| This salary | $104,180 |
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 | $77,109 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,121 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,506 |
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 | $97,055 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,987 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $104,180 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $63,150 and the ninetieth is $144,200 — 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 $77,109, worked from $104,180. 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 65 of 494.
- Two cautions on $78,002, the adjusted value of that $104,180 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Illinois. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 65 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $104,180 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $63,150 to $144,200. 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 $77,109, on $104,180 for work ranking 65 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 65 of 494 in the state.
- This $78,002 adjusted figure, worked from $104,180, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 65 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 65 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $63,150 and the top tenth $144,200 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $78,002.
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 $77,109 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($63,150) and the ninetieth ($144,200) 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 $78,002 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 $77,109 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.