Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,849
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$9,591
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,299
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
$48,440
Kept after tax
$38,849
Worth in national money
$39,299
State rank
36
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $48,440, ranking 36 of 50 states — about 6.14% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Illinois reports figures for, this is number 344.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $48,440 the take-home is $38,849, which is worth about $39,299 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $50,730, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois ranks 36 of 50 for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders, with a median of $48,440 — about 6.14% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Illinois's occupational distribution, separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 344 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 separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders on its $48,440 median: $38,849 retained after tax becomes $39,299 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $50,730 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,880 |
| This salary | $48,440 |
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 | $38,849 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,102 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,998 |
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 | $45,636 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,626 |
| 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 separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in Illinois earn under $48,440 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $73,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $38,849, worked from $48,440. 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 344 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,299 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 344.
- Figures are distribution medians for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $73,880; 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.
- The Illinois take-home of $38,849, on $48,440 for work ranking 344 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 344 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,299, worked from $48,440, 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 344 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 $50,730 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 $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $73,880 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Illinois is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $39,299 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Illinois adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,849 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $50,730. 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 ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($73,880) 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 $39,299 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 $38,849 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.