Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,115
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$12,615
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,673
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
$60,730
Kept after tax
$48,115
Worth in national money
$48,673
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Illinois sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $60,730, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 262 among 494 occupations Illinois publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $60,730 the take-home is $48,115, which is worth about $48,673 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $68,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Illinois occupies the middle band for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors: a median of $60,730, ranking 20 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.
- Position 262 of 494 in Illinois places substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors 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.
- Illinois's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors on its $60,730 median: $48,115 retained after tax becomes $48,673 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $68,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,100 |
| This salary | $60,730 |
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 | $48,115 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,977 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,786 |
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 | $57,169 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,579 |
| 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 substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Illinois earn under $60,730 and half over. The published range runs $43,010 at the tenth percentile to $109,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Illinois the take-home figure of $48,115, from $60,730, 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 262 of 494 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $48,673, the adjusted value of that $60,730 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Illinois. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 262 of 494 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $43,010 to $109,100; 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.
- Take-home for Illinois is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,115 from $60,730. 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 262 of 494 locally.
- This $48,673 adjusted figure, worked from $60,730, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 262 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 262 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 $68,530 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 $43,010 and the top tenth $109,100 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $48,673 in national terms.
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 $48,115.
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 $68,530. 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 ($43,010) and the ninetieth ($109,100) 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 $48,673 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 $48,115 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.