Occupational Health and Safety Specialists in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,243
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$25,027
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,092
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
$98,270
Kept after tax
$73,243
Worth in national money
$74,092
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Illinois pays this job a middle wage of $98,270, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 9.01% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 89 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $98,270, take-home of $73,243 is worth roughly $74,092 in national money. The average comes to $99,170, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois's median for occupational health and safety specialists is $98,270, about 9.01% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Illinois, occupational health and safety specialists ranks 89 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.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for occupational health and safety specialists, whose median is $98,270, the adjusted figure of $74,092 differs little from $73,243 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $99,170 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,000 |
| This salary | $98,270 |
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 | $73,243 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,963 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,138 |
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 | $91,561 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,478 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $98,270 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,160 and the ninetieth is $137,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $73,243, worked from $98,270. 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 89 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $74,092 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 89.
- The Illinois median of $98,270 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,160 to $137,000. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Illinois take-home of $73,243, on $98,270 for work ranking 89 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 89 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $74,092, worked from $98,270, 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 89 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,160, the highest tenth $137,000, 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 $74,092.
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 $73,243 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,160) and the ninetieth ($137,000) 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 $74,092 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 $73,243 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.