Pharmacy Technicians in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,499
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$9,151
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,933
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
$46,650
Kept after tax
$37,499
Worth in national money
$37,933
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 18 of 51 states for pharmacy technicians, with a middle wage of $46,650. 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, pharmacy technicians ranks 375. 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 $46,650, take-home of $37,499 is worth roughly $37,933 in national money. The average lands at $45,930, below the middle of the range.
- Illinois ranks 18 of 51 for pharmacy technicians at $46,650. 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, pharmacy technicians ranks 375 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 pharmacy technicians, whose median is $46,650, the adjusted figure of $37,933 differs little from $37,499 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $45,930 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Pharmacy Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,260 |
| This salary | $46,650 |
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 | $37,499 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,663 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,883 |
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 | $43,956 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,487 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,650 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,550 and the ninetieth is $58,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $37,499, from $46,650, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 375 of 494 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,933, the adjusted value of that $46,650 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 375 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $46,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,550 to $58,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,499 from $46,650. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 375 of 494 locally.
- This $37,933 adjusted figure, worked from $46,650, 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 375 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 375 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,550 at the bottom tenth to $58,260 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $37,933 in national terms.
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 $37,499 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,550 to $58,260) 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 $37,933 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 $37,499 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.