Motorcycle Mechanics in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,714
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$7,916
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,104
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
$41,630
Kept after tax
$33,714
Worth in national money
$34,104
State rank
42
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Illinois pays motorcycle mechanics a middle wage of $41,630, 42 of 45 states and about 14.31% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, motorcycle mechanics ranks 418. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $41,630, take-home of $33,714 is worth roughly $34,104 in national money. The average comes to $44,650, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois's $41,630 median for motorcycle mechanics places it 42 of 45 states, about 14.31% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, motorcycle mechanics ranks 418 of 494, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for motorcycle mechanics, whose median is $41,630, the adjusted figure of $34,104 differs little from $33,714 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $44,650 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Motorcycle Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,320 |
| This salary | $41,630 |
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 | $33,714 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,630 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,561 |
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 | $39,246 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,098 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $41,630 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,710 and the ninetieth is $59,320 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $33,714, from $41,630, 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 418 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,104 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 418.
- The Illinois median of $41,630 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,710 to $59,320. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,714 from $41,630. 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 418 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,104, worked from $41,630, 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 418 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $44,650 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,710 at the bottom tenth to $59,320 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $34,104.
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, $33,714 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 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 $44,650. 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 ($36,710 to $59,320) 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 $34,104 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 $33,714 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.