Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,385
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$17,695
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,073
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
$77,080
Kept after tax
$59,385
Worth in national money
$60,073
State rank
29
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $77,080, ranking 29 of 48 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 167.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $77,080 the take-home is $59,385, which is worth about $60,073 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $82,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for mathematical science teachers, postsecondary: a median of $77,080, ranking 29 of 48. 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, mathematical science teachers, postsecondary sits at 167 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for mathematical science teachers, postsecondary on its $77,080 median: $59,385 retained after tax becomes $60,073 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $82,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $129,280 |
| This salary | $77,080 |
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 | $59,385 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,056 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,816 |
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 | $71,862 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,652 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,080 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,060 and the ninetieth is $129,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $59,385 take-home in Illinois comes from $77,080. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 167 of 494.
- Two cautions on $60,073, the adjusted value of that $77,080 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 167 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $77,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,060 to $129,280. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $59,385, from $77,080, assumes a single Illinois filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 167 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 48 for it.
- This $60,073 adjusted figure, worked from $77,080, 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 167 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 167 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 $82,100, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $42,060 at the bottom tenth to $129,280 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Illinois is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $60,073 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Illinois's own levy, $59,385 remains.
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 48 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 $82,100. 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 ($42,060) and the ninetieth ($129,280) 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 $60,073 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 $59,385 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.