Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,751
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$9,559
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,199
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
$48,310
Kept after tax
$38,751
Worth in national money
$39,199
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $48,310, which ranks 17 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 1.62% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Illinois reports figures for, this is number 348.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $48,310 the take-home is $38,751, which is worth about $39,199 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $52,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois ranks 17 of 51 states publishing a median for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, at $48,310 — about 1.62% 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.
- In Illinois's occupational distribution, secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive sits at 348 of 494 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive on its $48,310 median: $38,751 retained after tax becomes $39,199 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $52,070 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,790 |
| This salary | $48,310 |
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 | $38,751 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,997 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,990 |
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 | $45,514 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,616 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,310 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,930 and the ninetieth is $76,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $38,751, from $48,310, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 348 of 494 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $39,199, the adjusted value of that $48,310 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 348 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $48,310 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,930 to $76,790. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,751 from $48,310. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 348 of 494 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $39,199 — the adjusted value of that $48,310 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 348 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 $52,070 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,930 at the bottom tenth to $76,790 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 $39,199.
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 $38,751.
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 $52,070. 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 ($31,930) and the ninetieth ($76,790) 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 $39,199 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 $38,751 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.