Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,288
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$18,702
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,998
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
$79,990
Kept after tax
$61,288
Worth in national money
$61,998
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Illinois pays this job a middle wage of $79,990, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 11.04% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 139 among 494 occupations Illinois publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $79,990 the take-home is $61,288, which is worth about $61,998 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $89,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois's median for secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education is $79,990, about 11.04% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 139 of 494 in Illinois places secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education 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 secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education on its $79,990 median: $61,288 retained after tax becomes $61,998 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $89,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,960 |
| This salary | $79,990 |
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 | $61,288 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,103 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,997 |
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 | $74,568 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,903 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $79,990 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $49,020 and the ninetieth is $135,960 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $61,288 take-home in Illinois comes from $79,990. 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 139 of 494.
- Two cautions on $61,998, the adjusted value of that $79,990 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Illinois. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 139 of 494 locally.
- The Illinois median of $79,990 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $49,020 to $135,960. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $61,288, from $79,990, 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 139 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- This $61,998 adjusted figure, worked from $79,990, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 139 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 139 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $89,320, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,020 and the top tenth $135,960 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $61,998.
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 $61,288.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $89,320. 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 ($49,020) and the ninetieth ($135,960) 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 $61,998 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 $61,288 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.