Security Guards in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,100
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$7,390
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,472
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
$39,490
Kept after tax
$32,100
Worth in national money
$32,472
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for security guards. The median is $39,490, ranking 19 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Illinois, this one sits low: 429 of 494 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $39,490 the take-home is $32,100, which is worth about $32,472 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $44,240, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for security guards: a median of $39,490, ranking 19 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Security guards occupies position 429 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for security guards on its $39,490 median: $32,100 retained after tax becomes $32,472 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $44,240 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,950 |
| This salary | $39,490 |
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 | $32,100 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,910 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,424 |
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 | $37,237 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,932 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,490 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,520 and the ninetieth is $63,950 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $32,100, worked from $39,490. 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 429 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,472 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 429.
- The Illinois median of $39,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,520 to $63,950. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Illinois take-home of $32,100, on $39,490 for work ranking 429 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 429 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,472, worked from $39,490, 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 429 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 $44,240 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,520 at the tenth percentile, $63,950 at the ninetieth.
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 $32,472.
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 $32,100.
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 $44,240. 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 ($35,520 to $63,950) 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 $32,472 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 $32,100 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.