Residential Advisors in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,599
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$8,531
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,011
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
$44,130
Kept after tax
$35,599
Worth in national money
$36,011
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for residential advisors is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $44,130, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 4.47% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, residential advisors ranks 403. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $44,130 the take-home is $35,599, which is worth about $36,011 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $44,630, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For residential advisors, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $44,130, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 4.47% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, residential advisors ranks 403 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for residential advisors on its $44,130 median: $35,599 retained after tax becomes $36,011 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $44,630 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Residential Advisors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,790 |
| This salary | $44,130 |
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 | $35,599 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,638 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,722 |
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 | $41,592 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,291 |
| 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 residential advisors in Illinois earn under $44,130 and half over. The published range runs $35,090 at the tenth percentile to $58,790 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 $35,599, worked from $44,130. 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 403 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,011 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 403.
- Figures are distribution medians for residential advisors in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,090 to $58,790; 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 $35,599, on $44,130 for work ranking 403 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 403 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,011, worked from $44,130, 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 403 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,090 and the top tenth $58,790, so most people doing this work in Illinois sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $36,011.
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, $35,599 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,090 to $58,790) 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 $36,011 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 $35,599 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.