Illinois Paycheck Calculator
Illinois charges one rate to everybody — and then sends a $144.84 bill to anyone who earns a single dollar too much.
Estimates use 2026 federal tables, the standard deduction and no credits; actual withholding varies with your W-4. Illinois applies 4.95% after a $2,925 personal exemption per filer (2026). The exemption disappears entirely once federal AGI passes $250,000 single / $500,000 joint — the calculator applies that cliff.
Illinois taxes wages at a flat 4.95% of your federal adjusted gross income, less a $2,925 personal exemption per filer. There are no brackets, no local wage tax in any Illinois city, and no employee-side payroll premium — which makes Illinois one of the simplest paychecks in the country to predict, right up until the exemption vanishes at $250,000 of income.
How Illinois paychecks work
The Illinois Constitution requires a non-graduated income tax, so every filer pays the same 4.95% no matter what they earn. Illinois then starts from your federal AGI and subtracts almost nothing: no state standard deduction, no itemising, just the personal exemption — $2,925 for a single filer, $5,850 on a joint return, since the allowance is per person.
That single exemption is worth $144.79 a year to a single filer and $289.57 to a couple — small enough that "salary × 4.95%" gets close, and large enough that it is worth doing properly. It is also the number that makes the rest of this page interesting, because Illinois does not phase it out. It takes it away all at once.
Worked example
Single, $65,000 salary, paid biweekly: federal income tax $5,620.00, FICA $4,972.50, Illinois tax $3,072.71 (4.95% of the $62,075 left after the exemption) → take-home $51,334.79 a year — $1,974.41 per check, a 21.0% total burden. The same salary in Texas nets $54,407.50, and the entire $3,072.71 gap is the Illinois tax.
The $250,000 cliff: where one dollar costs $144.84
This is the part of the Illinois code that almost no paycheck calculator models, and it is not a rounding detail.
The Illinois exemption allowance is not allowed at all if your federal AGI exceeds $250,000 on a single return or $500,000 filing jointly. Not reduced. Not tapered over a range, the way most income limits in the federal code work. Disallowed, in full, the moment you cross the line.
| Federal AGI (single) | Exemption | Illinois tax |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $2,925 | $12,230.21 |
| $250,001 | $0 | $12,375.05 |
One extra dollar of income raises the Illinois bill by $144.84 — five cents of tax on the dollar itself, plus the $144.79 the lost exemption was worth. On a joint return the cliff sits at $500,000 and the step is $289.62, because two exemptions disappear together.
Two things to note about how the ceiling is measured. It is on federal AGI, not on your Illinois taxable income and not on your salary alone — interest, capital gains, a spouse's wages and a side business all count toward it. And because it is AGI, anything that reduces AGI can pull you back under.
The 401(k) that is worth 7.85% in Illinois
A traditional 401(k) deferral reduces federal AGI, and Illinois starts from federal AGI, so an Illinois deferral normally saves a flat 4.95% — $495 per $10,000, on top of the federal saving. Near the cliff it is worth far more than that.
Single filer with a $255,000 salary: no exemption, Illinois tax $12,622.50. Defer $5,000 into a traditional 401(k), AGI lands at exactly $250,000, and the exemption comes back — Illinois tax $12,230.21. The deferral saved $392.29 of Illinois tax, an effective 7.85% on that $5,000 rather than 4.95%.
The cliff is at "exceeds $250,000", so landing exactly on $250,000 keeps the exemption. The arithmetic is the same for any deferral that carries you back under a ceiling: it saves 4.95% of the amount deferred plus the whole $144.79 allowance, so the smaller the gap you have to close, the higher the effective rate. Closing a $1,000 gap is worth $194.29 of Illinois tax — 19.4% on that $1,000.
What Illinois does not take
- No city income tax anywhere in the state. Chicago does not levy one, and neither does any other Illinois municipality — the percentage math on this page is identical in Chicago, Peoria and Rockford. That is a real difference from Michigan, where Detroit adds 2.4%, and from New York.
- No employee-paid disability or paid-leave premium. Illinois unemployment insurance is funded entirely by employers, and the Paid Leave for All Workers Act gives employees accrued paid leave rather than running an insurance fund out of payroll. So there is no Illinois equivalent of California's SDI, Colorado's FAMLI or Washington's PFML line — the state tax row is the whole state story.
- No tax on retirement income coming back out. Illinois subtracts the federally taxed portion of 401(k) and IRA distributions, Social Security benefits and government pensions (Publication 120). Combined with the deferral cutting AGI going in, a traditional 401(k) escapes Illinois tax at both ends — the opposite of Pennsylvania, which taxes contributions on the way in.
How Illinois compares
At $65,000, Illinois is the most expensive flat-tax state on this site — the 4.95% rate is simply higher than the others, and its $2,925 exemption is far smaller than the deductions the rest subtract first.
| State | Rate | Subtracted first | State tax on $65,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 4.95% | $2,925 exemption | $3,072.71 |
| Michigan | 4.25% | $5,900 exemption | $2,511.75 |
| Colorado | 4.40% | $16,100 federal standard deduction | $2,151.60 |
| North Carolina | 3.99% | $12,750 standard deduction | $2,084.78 |
| Pennsylvania | 3.07% | nothing | $1,995.50 |
It is a useful reminder that a flat rate tells you very little on its own: Colorado's 4.40% is higher than Michigan's 4.25% and costs less, because of what each one subtracts before the rate lands. Comparing against no state tax at all? Texas is the zero-tax baseline.
How this estimate is calculated
- Federal income tax: 2026 IRS brackets with the 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 married filing jointly), no credits or itemizing.
- FICA: Social Security 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (plus 0.9% additional above $200k single / $250k married).
- Pre-tax deductions (401(k), traditional retirement) reduce federal and state taxable income but not FICA wages.
- Results estimate your annual tax liability spread across paychecks — real per-check withholding depends on your W-4 and settles at tax time.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Illinois income tax rate for 2026?
A flat 4.95% of net income, unchanged since July 1, 2017. The Illinois Constitution requires a non-graduated tax, so the rate is the same at every income level — a 2020 ballot measure to allow graduated rates was rejected. What does change with income is the personal exemption, which is $2,925 per filer in 2026 and disappears entirely above $250,000 of federal AGI ($500,000 joint).
How much is $65,000 after taxes in Illinois?
About $51,335 a year for a single filer taking the standard deduction — roughly $1,974 per biweekly paycheck. That is after $5,620.00 of federal income tax, $4,972.50 of FICA and $3,072.71 of Illinois tax. There is no city income tax to add anywhere in Illinois, including Chicago.
What is the Illinois personal exemption for 2026?
$2,925 per exemption, up from $2,850 in 2025. It is claimed per person, so a married couple filing jointly subtracts $5,850. The allowance is worth $144.79 of tax to a single filer and $289.57 to a couple. It is not allowed at all if federal AGI exceeds $250,000 on a single return or $500,000 filing jointly.
What happens to my Illinois exemption if I earn over $250,000?
You lose all of it at once. The exemption is disallowed — not phased out — when federal AGI exceeds $250,000 ($500,000 filing jointly), so crossing the line by one dollar raises the Illinois bill by $144.84 for a single filer ($289.62 for a couple, who lose two exemptions). Because the test is on federal AGI, a traditional 401(k) deferral that brings AGI back to $250,000 or below restores the whole allowance.
Does Chicago have a city income tax?
No. Chicago levies no income tax on wages, and neither does any other Illinois city, so 4.95% is the entire state and local income tax on an Illinois paycheck. This is one of the bigger differences between Illinois and neighbouring flat-tax states — Detroit charges residents 2.4% on top of Michigan’s 4.25%.
Does a 401(k) contribution reduce Illinois state tax?
Yes, and twice over. Traditional deferrals cut your federal AGI, which is where Illinois starts, so each $10,000 deferred saves $495 of Illinois tax. Illinois then also subtracts the federally taxed portion of 401(k) and IRA distributions when you draw the money out (Publication 120), so the same dollars are untaxed by Illinois at both ends. Near the $250,000 exemption cliff a deferral is worth even more — up to an effective 7.85% on the slice that carries AGI back under the ceiling.
Official sources
Every rate and threshold on this page comes from the issuing agency. Verify anything here against the primary source:
- Illinois Department of Revenue — Income Tax Rates — individual income tax, effective July 1, 2017: 4.95 percent of net income
- Illinois Department of Revenue — What is the Illinois personal exemption allowance? — $2,925 per exemption for tax years beginning January 1, 2026, and the federal-AGI ceiling of $500,000 joint / $250,000 all other returns
- Illinois Department of Revenue — Booklet IL-700-T, 2026 Withholding Tax Tables — the 4.95% rate and $2,925 allowance an Illinois employer actually withholds with
- Illinois General Assembly — 35 ILCS 5/201 — the statute imposing the tax and setting the rate
- Illinois Department of Revenue — Publication 120, Retirement Income — the subtraction for federally taxed 401(k), IRA and Social Security income
- IRS — 2026 inflation adjustments — federal standard deduction $16,100 single / $32,200 joint
Last reviewed: 2026-09-08 · Report an issue