Sewing Machine Operators in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,635
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,585
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,978
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
$36,220
Kept after tax
$29,635
Worth in national money
$29,978
State rank
28
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 28 of 50 states for sewing machine operators, with a middle wage of $36,220. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, sewing machine operators ranks 465. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $36,220, take-home of $29,635 is worth roughly $29,978 in national money. The average comes to $38,600, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 28 of 50 for sewing machine operators at $36,220. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, sewing machine operators ranks 465 of 494, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for sewing machine operators, whose median is $36,220, the adjusted figure of $29,978 differs little from $29,635 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $38,600 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sewing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,720 |
| This salary | $36,220 |
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 | $29,635 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,283 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,214 |
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 | $34,169 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,678 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,220 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,060 and the ninetieth is $46,720 — 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 $29,635, worked from $36,220. 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 465 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,978, the adjusted value of that $36,220 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 465 of 494 in the state.
- The Illinois median of $36,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,060 to $46,720. 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 $29,635, on $36,220 for work ranking 465 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 465 of 494 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $29,978 — the adjusted value of that $36,220 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 465 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 $38,600 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $33,060 at the bottom tenth to $46,720 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $29,978.
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 $29,635 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 $38,600. 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 ($33,060 to $46,720) 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 $29,978 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 $29,635 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.