Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,613
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$12,777
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,176
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
$61,390
Kept after tax
$48,613
Worth in national money
$49,176
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for payroll and timekeeping clerks is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $61,390, putting the state 10 of 51 — about 5.37% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Payroll and timekeeping clerks ranks 255 among 494 occupations Illinois publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $61,390, take-home of $48,613 is worth roughly $49,176 in national money. The average comes to $62,460, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For payroll and timekeeping clerks, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $61,390, ranking 10 of 51 and running about 5.37% 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.
- Position 255 of 494 in Illinois places payroll and timekeeping clerks 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 payroll and timekeeping clerks, whose median is $61,390, the adjusted figure of $49,176 differs little from $48,613 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $62,460 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,460 |
| This salary | $61,390 |
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 | $48,613 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,507 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,828 |
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 | $57,788 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,630 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,390 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,670 and the ninetieth is $86,460 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $48,613 take-home in Illinois comes from $61,390. 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 255 of 494.
- Two cautions on $49,176, the adjusted value of that $61,390 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Illinois. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 255 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $61,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,670 to $86,460. 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 $48,613, from $61,390, 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 255 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 51 for it.
- This $49,176 adjusted figure, worked from $61,390, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 255 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 255 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,670 and the top tenth $86,460 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Illinois is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $49,176 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Illinois's own levy, $48,613 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,670) and the ninetieth ($86,460) 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 $49,176 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 $48,613 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.