Physics Teachers, Postsecondary in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,039
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$23,861
25.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,862
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
$94,900
Kept after tax
$71,039
Worth in national money
$71,862
State rank
33
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Illinois pays physics teachers, postsecondary a middle wage of $94,900, 33 of 47 states and about 5.39% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Illinois this is well-paid work. Of 494 occupations with published figures in the state, physics teachers, postsecondary ranks 98 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $94,900, take-home of $71,039 is worth roughly $71,862 in national money. The average comes to $103,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois's $94,900 median for physics teachers, postsecondary places it 33 of 47 states, about 5.39% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Ranked against every occupation Illinois publishes a median for, physics teachers, postsecondary sits 98 of 494 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for physics teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $94,900, the adjusted figure of $71,862 differs little from $71,039 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $103,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physics Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $94,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,410 |
| This salary | $94,900 |
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 | $71,039 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $75,592 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,928 |
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 | $88,428 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,188 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $94,900 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,150 and the ninetieth is $166,410 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $71,039 take-home in Illinois comes from $94,900. 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 98 of 494.
- Two cautions on $71,862, the adjusted value of that $94,900 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 98 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $94,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,150 to $166,410. 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 $71,039, from $94,900, 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 98 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 47 for it.
- This $71,862 adjusted figure, worked from $94,900, 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 98 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 98 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 $103,950 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 $61,150 and the top tenth $166,410 — 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 $71,862 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 $71,039.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $103,950. 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 ($61,150) and the ninetieth ($166,410) 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 $71,862 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 $71,039 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.