Receptionists and Information Clerks in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,524
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,876
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,878
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
$37,400
Kept after tax
$30,524
Worth in national money
$30,878
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 25 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $37,400. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 453. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $37,400, take-home of $30,524 is worth roughly $30,878 in national money. The average comes to $39,520, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 25 of 51 for receptionists and information clerks at $37,400. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, receptionists and information clerks ranks 453 of 494, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for receptionists and information clerks, whose median is $37,400, the adjusted figure of $30,878 differs little from $30,524 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $39,520 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Receptionists and Information Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,350 |
| This salary | $37,400 |
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 | $30,524 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,231 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,290 |
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 | $35,276 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,769 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of receptionists and information clerks in Illinois earn under $37,400 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $48,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $30,524, worked from $37,400. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 453 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,878, the adjusted value of that $37,400 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 453 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for receptionists and information clerks in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $48,350; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Illinois take-home of $30,524, on $37,400 for work ranking 453 of 494 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 453 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $30,878 — the adjusted value of that $37,400 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 453 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 $39,520 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,200 and the top tenth $48,350, so most people doing this work in Illinois sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $30,878 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, $30,524 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 $39,520. 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 ($31,200 to $48,350) 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 $30,878 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 $30,524 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.