Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,756
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$16,304
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,413
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
$73,060
Kept after tax
$56,756
Worth in national money
$57,413
State rank
8
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $73,060, which ranks 8 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 36.97% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 189 among 494 occupations Illinois publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $73,060, take-home of $56,756 is worth roughly $57,413 in national money. The average comes to $77,180, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 8 of 50 states publishing a median for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators, at $73,060 — about 36.97% 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.
- Position 189 of 494 in Illinois places paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators, whose median is $73,060, the adjusted figure of $57,413 differs little from $56,756 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $77,180 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,720 |
| This salary | $73,060 |
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 | $56,756 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,228 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,565 |
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 | $68,125 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,306 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $73,060 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,800 and the ninetieth is $102,720 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $56,756 take-home in Illinois comes from $73,060. 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 189 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,413 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 189.
- The Illinois median of $73,060 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,800 to $102,720. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $56,756, from $73,060, 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 189 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,413, worked from $73,060, 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 189 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 $77,180 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $46,800 and the top tenth $102,720 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $57,413 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Illinois then takes its own share, leaving $56,756.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $77,180. 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 ($46,800) and the ninetieth ($102,720) 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 $57,413 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 $56,756 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.