Social Science Research Assistants in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,252
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$13,638
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,845
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
$64,890
Kept after tax
$51,252
Worth in national money
$51,845
State rank
10
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for social science research assistants is strong here. Illinois's middle earner gets $64,890, putting the state 10 of 45 — about 4.68% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Social science research assistants ranks 215 among 494 occupations Illinois publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $64,890, take-home of $51,252 is worth roughly $51,845 in national money. The average comes to $69,900, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For social science research assistants, Illinois sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $64,890, ranking 10 of 45 and running about 4.68% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 215 of 494 in Illinois places social science research assistants 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.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for social science research assistants, whose median is $64,890, the adjusted figure of $51,845 differs little from $51,252 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $69,900 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Science Research Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $116,530 |
| This salary | $64,890 |
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 | $51,252 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,319 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,053 |
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 | $61,073 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,901 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Illinois earn less than $64,890. The published range is $37,460 up to $116,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $51,252, from $64,890, 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 215 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,845 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 215.
- Reported values are medians; for social science research assistants in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,460 to $116,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,252 from $64,890. 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 215 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,845, worked from $64,890, 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 215 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 $69,900 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,460 and the top tenth $116,530 — 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 $51,845.
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 $51,252.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $69,900. 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 ($37,460) and the ninetieth ($116,530) 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 $51,845 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 $51,252 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.