Physical Therapists in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,808
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$27,442
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,710
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
$105,250
Kept after tax
$77,808
Worth in national money
$78,710
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for physical therapists. The middle earner takes $105,250, which ranks 9 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.42% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 58 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 $105,250, take-home of $77,808 is worth roughly $78,710 in national money. The average comes to $109,080, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 9 of 51 states publishing a median for physical therapists, at $105,250 — about 2.42% 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.
- Within Illinois, physical therapists ranks 58 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 physical therapists, whose median is $105,250, the adjusted figure of $78,710 differs little from $77,808 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $109,080 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Physical Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $83,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $105,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $140,410 |
| This salary | $105,250 |
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 | $77,808 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,873 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,573 |
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 | $98,050 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,079 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $105,250 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $83,000 and the ninetieth is $140,410 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $77,808 take-home in Illinois comes from $105,250. 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 58 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $78,710, the adjusted value of that $105,250 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 58 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $105,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $83,000 to $140,410. 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 $77,808, from $105,250, 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 58 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $78,710 — the adjusted value of that $105,250 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 58 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $109,080, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $83,000 at the bottom tenth to $140,410 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $78,710 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 $77,808.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $109,080. 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 ($83,000 to $140,410) 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 $78,710 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 $77,808 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.