Library Technicians in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,853
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$9,267
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,292
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
$47,120
Kept after tax
$37,853
Worth in national money
$38,292
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for library technicians is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $47,120, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 5.7% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Illinois, this sits in the middle: 366 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $47,120 the take-home is $37,853, which is worth about $38,292 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $48,950, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For library technicians, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $47,120, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 5.7% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Library technicians ranks 366 of 494 occupations in Illinois by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for library technicians on its $47,120 median: $37,853 retained after tax becomes $38,292 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $48,950 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Library Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,170 |
| This salary | $47,120 |
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 | $37,853 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,041 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,913 |
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 | $44,397 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,523 |
| 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 library technicians in Illinois earn under $47,120 and half over. The published range runs $33,780 at the tenth percentile to $63,170 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $37,853, worked from $47,120. 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 366 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,292 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 366.
- Figures are distribution medians for library technicians in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,780 to $63,170; 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.
- The Illinois take-home of $37,853, on $47,120 for work ranking 366 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 366 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,292, worked from $47,120, 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 366 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 $48,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,780 and the top tenth $63,170, so most people doing this work in Illinois sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $38,292 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 $37,853.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $48,950. 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 ($33,780 to $63,170) 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 $38,292 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 $37,853 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.