Tax Preparers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,403
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$11,077
20.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,905
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
$54,480
Kept after tax
$43,403
Worth in national money
$43,905
State rank
18
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays tax preparers around $54,480 at the midpoint, 18 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Illinois reports figures for, this is number 304.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $54,480, tax leaves $43,403, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $43,905 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $54,530, since top earners drag the number up.
- For tax preparers the Illinois median is $54,480, ranking 18 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Illinois's occupational distribution, tax preparers sits at 304 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.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for tax preparers — median $54,480 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $43,403 retained, $43,905 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $54,530 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,150 |
| This salary | $54,480 |
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 | $43,403 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,955 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,385 |
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 | $51,304 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,094 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 99 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $54,480 as a midpoint for Illinois, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,030 and the ninetieth is $76,150 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $43,403 take-home in Illinois comes from $54,480. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 304 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,905 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 304.
- The Illinois median of $54,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,030 to $76,150. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $43,403, from $54,480, assumes a single Illinois filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 304 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,905, worked from $54,480, 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 304 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $33,030, the highest tenth $76,150, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $43,905.
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 $43,403.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($33,030) and the ninetieth ($76,150) 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 $43,905 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 $43,403 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.