Tour and Travel Guides in Illinois
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,057
after federal, FICA and Illinois tax
Tax takes
$6,723
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,405
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
$36,780
Kept after tax
$30,057
Worth in national money
$30,405
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Illinois is 26 of 50 states for tour and travel guides, with a middle wage of $36,780. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Illinois this is lower-paid work. Of 494 occupations the state publishes figures for, tour and travel guides ranks 459. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Illinois costs about what the country costs, so from $36,780, take-home of $30,057 is worth roughly $30,405 in national money. The average comes to $38,420, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Illinois ranks 26 of 50 for tour and travel guides at $36,780. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Illinois reports, tour and travel guides ranks 459 of 494, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Illinois is near the national base, so for tour and travel guides, whose median is $36,780, the adjusted figure of $30,405 differs little from $30,057 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $38,420 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tour and Travel Guides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,930 |
| This salary | $36,780 |
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 | $30,057 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,733 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,250 |
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 | $34,694 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,721 |
| 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 tour and travel guides in Illinois earn under $36,780 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $45,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,057 take-home in Illinois comes from $36,780. 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 459 of 494.
- One number stands for prices across all of Illinois, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,405, the adjusted value of that $36,780 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 459 of 494 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for tour and travel guides in Illinois, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $45,930; 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.
- Retained pay of $30,057, from $36,780, 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 459 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Illinois, so $30,405 — the adjusted value of that $36,780 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 459 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $38,420, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,200 at the tenth percentile, $45,930 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 $30,405 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $30,057.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $38,420. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $45,930) 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 $30,405 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 $30,057 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.