Tool and Die Makers in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,447
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$12,723
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,008
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
$61,170
Kept after tax
$48,447
Worth in national money
$49,008
State rank
29
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Illinois pays tool and die makers around $61,170 at the midpoint, 29 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Illinois, this sits in the middle: 259 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $61,170, tax leaves $48,447, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $49,008 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $61,060.
- For tool and die makers the Illinois median is $61,170, ranking 29 of 45 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.
- Tool and die makers ranks 259 of 494 occupations in Illinois by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Because Illinois sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for tool and die makers — median $61,170 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $48,447 retained, $49,008 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $61,060 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,520 |
| This salary | $61,170 |
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 | $48,447 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,330 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,814 |
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 | $57,582 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,613 |
| 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 tool and die makers in Illinois earn under $61,170 and half over. The published range runs $39,490 at the tenth percentile to $82,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Illinois's $48,447, worked from $61,170. 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 259 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,008 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 259.
- Figures are distribution medians for tool and die makers in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,490 to $82,520; 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.
- The Illinois take-home of $48,447, on $61,170 for work ranking 259 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 259 of 494 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,008, worked from $61,170, 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 259 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,490 at the bottom tenth to $82,520 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $49,008 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $48,447 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,490 to $82,520) 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 $49,008 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 $48,447 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.