Retail Salespersons in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,994
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,376
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,330
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
$35,370
Kept after tax
$28,994
Worth in national money
$29,330
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays retail salespersons around $35,370 at the midpoint, 20 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 494 occupations Illinois publishes, retail salespersons lands at 477. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $35,370, take-home of $28,994 is worth roughly $29,330 in national money. The average comes to $38,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For retail salespersons the Illinois median is $35,370, ranking 20 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Illinois, this work ranks 477 of 494 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for retail salespersons, whose median is $35,370, the adjusted figure of $29,330 differs little from $28,994 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $38,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,010 |
| This salary | $35,370 |
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 | $28,994 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,600 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,160 |
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 | $33,371 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,612 |
| 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 retail salespersons in Illinois earn under $35,370 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $48,010 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $28,994 take-home in Illinois comes from $35,370. 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 477 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,330, the adjusted value of that $35,370 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 477 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for retail salespersons in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $48,010; 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.
- Retained pay of $28,994, from $35,370, 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 477 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $29,330 — the adjusted value of that $35,370 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 477 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 $38,680 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $48,010 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $29,330.
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, $28,994 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 $38,680. 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 $48,010) 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 $29,330 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 $28,994 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.