Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,753
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$25,297
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,608
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
$99,050
Kept after tax
$73,753
Worth in national money
$74,608
State rank
13
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Illinois pays this job a middle wage of $99,050, ranking 13 of 49 states and sitting about 2.04% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Illinois. It ranks 87 out of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $99,050, tax leaves $73,753, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $74,608 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $99,870, since top earners drag the number up.
- Illinois's median for social scientists and related workers, all other is $99,050, about 2.04% above the national figure and 13 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Illinois, social scientists and related workers, all other ranks 87 of 494 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for social scientists and related workers, all other — median $99,050 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $73,753 retained, $74,608 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $99,870 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,900 |
| This salary | $99,050 |
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 | $73,753 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,512 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,186 |
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 | $92,286 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,545 |
| 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 $99,050. The published range is $68,310 up to $130,900, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $73,753, worked from $99,050. 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 87 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $74,608 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 87.
- Reported values are medians; for social scientists and related workers, all other in Illinois the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $68,310 to $130,900. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Illinois take-home of $73,753, on $99,050 for work ranking 87 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 87 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $74,608, worked from $99,050, 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 87 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $68,310 at the tenth percentile, $130,900 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Illinois sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $74,608 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Illinois's own levy, $73,753 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($68,310 to $130,900) 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 $74,608 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 $73,753 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.