Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,715
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$25,805
25.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,580
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
$100,520
Kept after tax
$74,715
Worth in national money
$75,580
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Illinois pays this job a middle wage of $100,520, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 31.9% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 494 occupations Illinois reports, this job comes in at 76 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $100,520 the take-home is $74,715, which is worth about $75,580 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $92,450, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Illinois's median for police and sheriff's patrol officers is $100,520, about 31.9% above the national figure and 3 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Police and sheriff's patrol officers ranks 76 of 494 occupations by median in Illinois, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for police and sheriff's patrol officers on its $100,520 median: $74,715 retained after tax becomes $75,580 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $92,450 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $119,560 |
| This salary | $100,520 |
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 | $74,715 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,546 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,278 |
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 | $93,653 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,672 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $100,520 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,420 and the ninetieth is $119,560 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $74,715 take-home in Illinois comes from $100,520. 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 76 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $75,580 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 76.
- The Illinois median of $100,520 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,420 to $119,560. 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 $74,715, from $100,520, 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 76 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,580, worked from $100,520, 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 76 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 $92,450, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $58,420 at the tenth percentile, $119,560 at the ninetieth.
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 $75,580 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, $74,715 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.
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 $92,450. 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 ($58,420 to $119,560) 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 $75,580 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 $74,715 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.