News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,010
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$12,580
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,566
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
$60,590
Kept after tax
$48,010
Worth in national money
$48,566
State rank
13
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $60,590, putting the state 13 of 48 — about 2.59% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Illinois reports figures for, this is number 265.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $60,590, take-home of $48,010 is worth roughly $48,566 in national money. The average comes to $87,560, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For news analysts, reporters, and journalists, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $60,590, ranking 13 of 48 and running about 2.59% 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.
- In Illinois's occupational distribution, news analysts, reporters, and journalists sits at 265 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.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for news analysts, reporters, and journalists, whose median is $60,590, the adjusted figure of $48,566 differs little from $48,010 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $87,560 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $140,620 |
| This salary | $60,590 |
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 | $48,010 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,864 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,777 |
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 | $57,038 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,568 |
| 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 $60,590. The published range is $36,680 up to $140,620, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $48,010 take-home in Illinois comes from $60,590. 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 265 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,566, the adjusted value of that $60,590 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 265 of 494 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for news analysts, reporters, and journalists in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,680 to $140,620. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $48,010, from $60,590, 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 265 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $48,566 — the adjusted value of that $60,590 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 265 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 $87,560, 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 $36,680 at the bottom tenth to $140,620 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $48,566 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $48,010 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $87,560. 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 ($36,680) and the ninetieth ($140,620) 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 $48,566 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 $48,010 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.