Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,408
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$9,122
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,842
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
$46,530
Kept after tax
$37,408
Worth in national money
$37,842
State rank
15
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $46,530, which ranks 15 of 46 states with published figures. That is about 8.79% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Illinois, this one sits low: 376 of 494 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $46,530, tax leaves $37,408, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $37,842 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $50,480, since top earners drag the number up.
- Illinois ranks 15 of 46 states publishing a median for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood, at $46,530 — about 8.79% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood occupies position 376 of 494 in Illinois's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood — median $46,530 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $37,408 retained, $37,842 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $50,480 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,550 |
| This salary | $46,530 |
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 | $37,408 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,567 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,875 |
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 | $43,844 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,478 |
| 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 sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Illinois earn under $46,530 and half over. The published range runs $33,270 at the tenth percentile to $70,550 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,408 take-home in Illinois comes from $46,530. 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 376 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,842 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 376.
- Figures are distribution medians for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,270 to $70,550; 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 $37,408, from $46,530, 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 376 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,842, worked from $46,530, 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 376 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,480, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $33,270 at the bottom tenth to $70,550 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $37,842.
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 $37,408.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $50,480. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($33,270) and the ninetieth ($70,550) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $37,842 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 $37,408 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.