Natural Sciences Managers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$112,642
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$47,028
29.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$113,946
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
$159,670
Kept after tax
$112,642
Worth in national money
$113,946
State rank
8
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for natural sciences managers. The middle earner takes $159,670, which ranks 8 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 4.52% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 10 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $159,670 the take-home is $112,642, which is worth about $113,946 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $167,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois ranks 8 of 48 states publishing a median for natural sciences managers, at $159,670 — about 4.52% 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.
- Within Illinois, natural sciences managers ranks 10 of 494 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for natural sciences managers on its $159,670 median: $112,642 retained after tax becomes $113,946 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $167,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Natural Sciences Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $85,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $159,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $281,660 |
| This salary | $159,670 |
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 | $112,642 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $120,400 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,954 |
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 | $148,318 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,152 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Illinois earn less than $159,670. The published range is $85,210 up to $281,660, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $112,642, worked from $159,670. 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 10 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $113,946 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 10.
- Reported values are medians; for natural sciences managers in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $85,210 to $281,660. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Illinois take-home of $112,642, on $159,670 for work ranking 10 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 10 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $113,946, worked from $159,670, 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 10 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 $167,700, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $85,210, the highest tenth $281,660, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $113,946.
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 $112,642 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 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $167,700. 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 ($85,210) and the ninetieth ($281,660) 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 $113,946 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 $112,642 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.