Opticians, Dispensing in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,471
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$8,489
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,881
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
$43,960
Kept after tax
$35,471
Worth in national money
$35,881
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 34 of 51 states for opticians, dispensing, with a middle wage of $43,960. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, opticians, dispensing ranks 404. 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 $43,960, take-home of $35,471 is worth roughly $35,881 in national money. The average comes to $46,020, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 34 of 51 for opticians, dispensing at $43,960. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, opticians, dispensing ranks 404 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 opticians, dispensing, whose median is $43,960, the adjusted figure of $35,881 differs little from $35,471 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,020 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,830 |
| This salary | $43,960 |
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 | $35,471 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,502 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,711 |
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 | $41,432 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,278 |
| 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 $43,960. The published range is $37,080 up to $62,830, 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 $35,471, worked from $43,960. 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 404 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,881, the adjusted value of that $43,960 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 404 of 494 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for opticians, dispensing in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,080 to $62,830. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Illinois take-home of $35,471, on $43,960 for work ranking 404 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 404 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $35,881 — the adjusted value of that $43,960 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 404 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $46,020, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,080 and the top tenth $62,830, so most people doing this work in Illinois sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,881 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 $35,471 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.
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 $46,020. 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 ($37,080 to $62,830) 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 $35,881 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 $35,471 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.