Physician Assistants in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$95,067
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$36,883
28.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$96,168
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
$131,950
Kept after tax
$95,067
Worth in national money
$96,168
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for physician assistants is on the low side in Illinois. The middle earner gets $131,950. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 2.89% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 27 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $131,950, tax leaves $95,067, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $96,168 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $131,880.
- For physician assistants, Illinois sits in the lower band at $131,950, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 2.89%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Illinois, physician assistants ranks 27 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.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for physician assistants — median $131,950 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $95,067 retained, $96,168 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $131,880 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physician Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $105,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $131,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,330 |
| This salary | $131,950 |
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 | $95,067 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $101,454 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,235 |
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 | $122,606 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,664 |
| 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 $131,950. The published range is $105,160 up to $162,330, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $95,067, from $131,950, 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 27 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $96,168 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 27.
- Reported values are medians; for physician assistants in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $105,160 to $162,330. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $95,067 from $131,950. 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 27 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $96,168, worked from $131,950, 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 27 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $105,160 at the bottom tenth to $162,330 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 $96,168 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 $95,067.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($105,160 to $162,330) 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 $96,168 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 $95,067 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.