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Illinois Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Estimate your Illinois take-home pay after federal tax, FICA, and Illinois's flat state income tax.

How this calculator works

Like our other paycheck calculators, this estimates federal tax and FICA the same way regardless of state. On top of that, it applies Illinois’s flat 4.95% state income tax to your wages after subtracting Illinois’s personal exemption allowance. Illinois income tax starts from your federal adjusted gross income, so it already excludes your 401(k) contributions and pre-tax health premiums, the same wage basis California and New York use. Illinois has no state disability insurance tax, no employee-paid unemployment tax, and no local or municipal income tax anywhere in the state, so this calculator’s state-level estimate is already the full Illinois picture, unlike Pennsylvania’s local Earned Income Tax carve-out.

The formula

(federal tax, FICA, and net-pay assembly are identical to the Texas calculator)

ilWages     = grossWages − pretaxHealth − 401(k) contribution

exemption   = $0 if ilWages exceeds $250,000 (single) or $500,000 (joint)
          = $2,925 (single) or $5,850 (joint) otherwise

ilTaxable   = max(0, ilWages − exemption)
ilIncomeTax = ilTaxable x 0.0495

stateTax = ilIncomeTax

Worked example

A single filer earning $60,000/year, paid biweekly, with no 401(k) or extra deductions:

  • FICA: $4,590.00/year (same as any state)
  • Federal tax: $5,020.00/year (same as any state)
  • Illinois exemption: $2,925.00 (2026 personal exemption allowance, single)
  • Illinois taxable wages: $60,000 − $2,925 = $57,075.00
  • Illinois income tax: $57,075 x 4.95% = $2,825.21/year
  • Net pay: $60,000 − $4,590 − $5,020 − $2,825.21 = $47,564.79/year, or $1,829.42 per biweekly paycheck

Now compare that to the same salary with a 10% 401(k) contribution ($8,000/year deferred). Illinois taxable wages drop to $80,000 − $8,000 = $72,000, then $72,000 − $2,925 exemption = $69,075.00, so Illinois income tax is $69,075 x 4.95% = $3,419.21/year. This is the opposite of Pennsylvania’s best-known quirk: where Pennsylvania keeps taxing the full $80,000 because it does not exclude 401(k) deferrals, Illinois follows the federal exclusion, so the 401(k) contribution lowers both your federal and your Illinois tax bill.

We used SmartAsset’s Illinois Paycheck Calculator to spot-check the 4.95% flat rate and confirm Illinois has no local income tax layer to model. Its exact dollar output was not directly comparable cent-for-cent because it uses IRS and IL-700-T per-paycheck withholding tables rather than this calculator’s annual-liability model, but the flat rate and the absence of local tax it displays both match the sources cited below.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What is Illinois's 2026 state income tax rate?

A flat 4.95% on net income, the same rate for every filer regardless of income or filing status. It has held steady since July 1, 2017. Illinois has no tax brackets, so the rate applies uniformly once your taxable wages exceed the personal exemption allowance described below.

Does Illinois have a standard deduction or personal exemption?

Illinois has a personal exemption allowance rather than a standard deduction: $2,925 per exemption for tax year 2026, doubled to $5,850 on a joint return. It disappears entirely, not gradually, once your income exceeds $250,000 (most filers) or $500,000 (joint filers), so higher earners get no exemption at all.

Does contributing to a 401(k) lower my Illinois state tax the way it lowers my federal tax?

Yes. Illinois income tax starts from your federal adjusted gross income, which already excludes 401(k) elective deferrals, so Illinois taxes the same reduced wage figure federal tax does. This is the opposite of Pennsylvania, which taxes 401(k) contributions in full when you make them.

Does Illinois have a state disability insurance (SDI) tax or an employee-paid unemployment tax on my paycheck?

No. Illinois has no State Disability Insurance program (unlike California, New Jersey, New York, and a few other states), and Illinois unemployment insurance is funded entirely by employer contributions. Unlike Pennsylvania, which has a small separate employee-paid UC withholding, there is no second state payroll-tax line on an Illinois paycheck.

Does Chicago or any other Illinois city have its own local income tax?

No. The Illinois Constitution bars home-rule cities, including Chicago, from imposing a local income tax without specific authorization from the state legislature, which has never been granted. Illinois municipalities receive a share of state income tax revenue instead. This calculator's state-level estimate is already the complete Illinois income-tax picture.

Why is my actual Illinois paycheck different from this calculator's estimate?

This calculator estimates your annual state and federal tax liability and divides it evenly across your pay periods. Your employer withholds tax per paycheck using IRS and Illinois withholding tables, which use a slightly different per-allowance mechanic than the annual exemption allowance this calculator applies, so the two figures rarely land on the exact same cent.

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