Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,283
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$12,017
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,819
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
$58,300
Kept after tax
$46,283
Worth in national money
$46,819
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 31 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $58,300. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 287 among 494 occupations Illinois publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $58,300 the take-home is $46,283, which is worth about $46,819 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $59,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois ranks 31 of 51 for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators at $58,300. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 287 of 494 in Illinois places postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators on its $58,300 median: $46,283 retained after tax becomes $46,819 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $59,390 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $58,300 |
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 | $46,283 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,024 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,630 |
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 | $54,889 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,390 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,300 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,600 and the ninetieth is $75,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $46,283, from $58,300, 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 287 of 494 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,819, the adjusted value of that $58,300 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 287 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $58,300 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,600 to $75,280. 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 $46,283 from $58,300. 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 287 of 494 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $46,819 — the adjusted value of that $58,300 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 287 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $42,600 and the top tenth $75,280, so most people doing this work in Illinois sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $46,819 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 $46,283.
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 ($42,600 to $75,280) 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 $46,819 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 $46,283 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.