Does Illinois have a state income tax?

Yes. Illinois has a state income tax with a top rate of 5.0%.

How much is Illinois state tax on a $100,000 salary?

On a $100,000 salary in Illinois, state income tax is approximately $4,153. Your estimated total take-home pay is $75,027/year.

What other taxes does Illinois have?

Illinois has a 6.25% state sales tax. Local taxes push Chicago's total sales tax to nearly 10.25%. Property taxes are among the highest in the nation — averaging over $6,000/year statewide.

How does Illinois compare to other states for taxes?

Illinois's top rate of 5.0% compares favorably — below the national median for state income taxes.

What is Illinois' income tax rate?

Illinois has a flat 4.95% income tax rate that applies equally to all income levels — there are no brackets.

Does Illinois allow a standard deduction?

No. Illinois does not offer a standard deduction. However, it does offer personal exemptions of $2,425 per person.

How does Illinois' flat tax compare to neighboring states?

At 4.95%, Illinois is higher than Indiana (3.05%) and Michigan (4.05%), but lower than Wisconsin's top rate of 7.65% and Minnesota's 9.85%. The flat structure means high earners pay the same rate as low earners.

Are Illinois property taxes high?

Yes. Illinois has some of the highest property taxes in the nation, averaging over $6,000/year statewide. This is an important factor when comparing total tax burden against low-income-tax states.

State Tax Guide

Illinois State Income Tax Guide (2026)

Illinois has a flat state income tax rate of 4.95% on all income — one of the simpler state tax systems.

Top State Rate

5.0%

$100k Take-Home

$75,027

/year (single)

State Tax on $100k

$4,153

single filer

Illinois Income Tax Brackets (2026)

Marginal Rate	Taxable Income (Single Filer)
4.95%	$0→All income

Each rate applies only to income within that bracket. Your effective rate is the average across all brackets — meaningfully lower than your top marginal rate.

Brackets reflect the most recently published schedules. Some states inflation-index thresholds annually — specific 2026 amounts may shift slightly. Verify with your state's Department of Revenue before filing.

$100,000 Salary in Illinois — Full Tax Breakdown

Category	Annual	Monthly
Gross Salary	$100,000	$8,333
Federal Tax	−$13,170	−$1,098
FICA (SS + Medicare)	−$0.00	−$0.00
Illinois State Tax	−$4,153	−$346
Take-Home Pay	$75,027	$6,252

Assumes single filing status, standard deduction, no 401(k) or HSA contributions. 2026 tax year.

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The 30-second version

1.Illinois has a flat 4.95% income tax — same rate whether you earn $40K or $4M. No brackets, no progressive tiers. The state has tried twice (2014, 2020) to make it progressive; both failed.
2.The actual Illinois tax pain isn't the income tax — it's the property tax. Illinois ranks #2 in the nation at ~2.1% effective average. Cook County and the collar counties (DuPage, Lake, Will) routinely run $10,000–$18,000/year on a $400K home.
3.Retirement-income exemption is unusually generous: Illinois exempts ALL Social Security, pension, 401(k), and IRA distributions from state tax. This makes IL surprisingly retirement-friendly for residents who can stomach the property tax bill.
4.The state's pension funding crisis is real and structural — IL has the worst-funded state pensions in the US, which puts ongoing upward pressure on property tax. Plan for property tax to keep growing 2–4% annually.
5.For middle-income wage earners: the flat rate is genuinely manageable. For high earners: you're paying the same effective rate as a teacher, which is unusual and either great news or politically galling depending on your view.

A quick hello before we start

Pour yourself a Lou Malnati's leftovers slice and a coffee. This is the last Illinois-tax page you should need this year.

Quick note up top: nothing here is personal tax, legal, or financial advice. It's a friendly explainer with real numbers and honest opinions. Your situation has wrinkles only your CPA can iron out — treat this like a thoughtful friend at a Wrigleyville bar, not your accountant.

Last reviewed: April 2026 · Reviewed annually each January when new brackets publish

Why you can trust these numbers

Numbers reflect 2026 IRS federal brackets, FICA caps, and the current Illinois Department of Revenue flat 4.95% rate. The calculator at the top applies the federal standard deduction to compute IL taxable income — a known simplification, since IL technically uses federal AGI as the starting point with separate IL adjustments. For most W-2 earners with no unusual items, the calculator is within $100–$300 of your actual IL tax bill.

Reviewed annually each January and updated mid-year when rules change. Spot something off? Tell us — reader corrections genuinely make these guides better.

Sources: federal brackets + standard deduction from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32; state brackets verified against the Tax Foundation 2026 State Income Tax Rates compilation and the official IL-1040 Individual Income Tax Forms (IL Department of Revenue).

The flat rate — simpler than most, but with one catch

Illinois's 4.95% flat income tax has no brackets, no tiers, no marginal-vs-effective gap. A teacher at $60K and a partner at $1.5M pay the same rate — full stop. The flat structure was constitutionally locked in by Article IX, Section 3 of the IL Constitution, which requires any non-flat income tax to pass via constitutional amendment.

That amendment was on the ballot in November 2020 (the "Fair Tax" measure, technically Illinois Allow for Graduated Income Tax Amendment) and failed 53–47%. So for the foreseeable future, Illinois remains a flat-tax state — one of only nine. The political dynamic: high earners and the business community fought hard to keep the flat structure; progressive activists and public-sector unions wanted brackets. The flat side won.

The catch most articles miss: Illinois has no standard deduction. Federal taxable income is your starting point (with some additions like federally tax-exempt municipal bond interest), and you take a $2,425 personal exemption per filer + dependent. So your IL taxable income is your federal AGI minus exemptions — it's not the same as your federal taxable income. For a single filer with no dependents, the personal exemption knocks ~$120 off your IL tax bill. Not life-changing, but worth knowing.

Headline rate vs. what you actually pay

Unlike most states, Illinois's chart is boring — and that's the point. The marginal rate equals the effective rate at every income level (within rounding). Here's the picture for context (single filer, 2026 schedule):

The blue marginal rate is constant. The green effective rate climbs slightly because the personal exemption becomes a smaller share of total. This is the entire IL income tax story — the actual variation is in the property tax bill.

The pension funding gap — why your property tax keeps climbing

Illinois has roughly $140 billion in unfunded state pension liabilities (TRS, SERS, JRS, GARS, SURS combined) — the worst pension funding ratio in the country at around 45%. Chicago's municipal pensions and CPS teacher pensions add tens of billions more. The math is simple and grim: someone has to pay this, and "someone" is largely property-tax payers. Annual school district levies, county levies, municipal levies, and pension obligation bond servicing all show up on your property tax bill.

Practical implication for residents: don't budget on today's property tax bill staying flat. Expect 2–4% annual growth in many districts, and occasional reassessment shocks every 3 years (Cook County is on a triennial cycle). When you're shopping for a home, pull the actual tax bill from the Cook County Treasurer's website (or your county equivalent) for the past 5 years — the trend matters more than the current number.

What you'll actually pay — five real-life scenarios

Five scenarios that cover most readers. Find the one closest to you. If none match, the calculator at the top is for you.

Illustrative numbers — single filer unless noted, federal standard deduction, full-year IL residency, W-2 income. Property tax shown separately because it's the actual IL pain point. Two-earner MFJ households pay more FICA than the calculator shows because each spouse has their own Social Security cap. Ballparks, not invoices.

Scenario 1: CPS teacher in Chicago, $60,000

Federal income tax	~$5,150
Illinois state income tax	~$2,225
FICA (Social Security + Medicare)	~$4,600
Total income taxes	~$11,975
Annual take-home	~$48,025
Effective IL tax rate	~3.7%

Chicago Public Schools teacher pay is competitive with the national average, and the 4.95% IL rate is gentle on this income. The teacher's TRS pension contribution (9% of salary, mandatory) is pre-tax for federal AND IL purposes — so taxable income drops further before either rate applies. Renting in a working-class Northwest Side neighborhood: solidly middle-class take-home. The retirement angle is the long-run win — TRS pensions are entirely IL-tax-free.

Scenario 2: Software engineer in Chicago, $130,000

Federal income tax	~$20,200
Illinois state income tax	~$5,700
FICA	~$9,950
Total income taxes	~$35,850
Annual take-home (pre-housing)	~$94,150
Effective IL tax rate	~4.4%

Same engineer in San Francisco would pay ~$8,000 in CA state tax. Chicago's $5,700 IL bill is meaningfully lower — about $2,300 of annual income-tax savings. But Chicago property tax bites: the same engineer buying a $450K Logan Square two-flat would pay $9–10K/year in property tax (Cook County effective ~2.1%). A renter keeps nearly all the income-tax advantage; a buyer gives most of it back at the property assessment.

Scenario 3: Two-income family in Naperville, $220,000 combined (MFJ)

Federal income tax	~$31,650
Illinois state income tax	~$9,400
FICA (two earners)	~$16,800
Total income taxes	~$57,850
Annual take-home (pre-property-tax)	~$162,150
Effective IL tax rate	~4.3%

Classic DuPage County professional family — both spouses in Loop offices or River North towers, two kids in District 203 schools. The $9,400 IL bill is meaningfully lower than the $13–14K they'd pay in CA at the same income, but their $700K Naperville center-hall colonial carries $14,000–$17,000/year in property tax. The school district is genuinely excellent — the property tax funds it. This is the trade Naperville families consciously accept.

Scenario 4: BigLaw senior associate in the Loop, $425,000

Federal income tax	~$113,050
Illinois state income tax	~$20,300
FICA + Additional Medicare	~$19,650
Total income taxes	~$153,000
Annual take-home (pre-housing)	~$272,000
Effective IL tax rate	~4.8%

BigLaw market pay is the same in Chicago as in New York — about $415–435K at the fifth-year level. The Chicago associate keeps ~$30K more annually than the NYC counterpart (no NYC city tax, and IL's 4.95% beats NY's effective rate at this income). Even after a $25K Lincoln Park brownstone property tax bill, the net Chicago advantage is real. This is one of the strongest BigLaw value propositions in the country.

Scenario 5: Hedge fund / private equity principal, $1,000,000

Federal income tax	~$321,500
Illinois state income tax	~$48,750
FICA + Additional Medicare	~$33,150
Total income taxes	~$403,400
Annual take-home	~$596,600
Effective IL tax rate	~4.9%

At $1M, the IL flat rate is a major win vs CA (13.3% top), NY (combined 9–10%+ NYC), or NJ (8.97% at this band). Chicago is one of the most underrated cities in the US for high-finance comp because the state-level take-home advantage compounds materially. Combined with a $30–60K Lincoln Park / Streeterville property tax bill, your total state-and-local burden still beats most coastal alternatives — a genuine reason finance has stayed in Chicago even as some operations moved to Florida.

Got the number you came for? Scroll up to run your specific salary in the calculator. Or keep reading — the next section is the property tax math that actually drives Illinois cost-of-living decisions.

Back to calculator

Property tax — the actual Illinois cost

Illinois property tax effective rates by county (approximate, primary residence): Cook (Chicago) 1.9–2.4% depending on township and triennial reassessment cycle, DuPage (Naperville/Wheaton) 2.0–2.4%, Lake 2.2–2.6%, Will (Joliet/Plainfield) 2.3–2.7%, Kane (Aurora) 2.3–2.5%, McHenry 2.3–2.6%. Statewide average is ~2.1%. Compare to the US median of ~1.0% and Texas average of ~1.6%. Illinois ranks #2 in the nation behind New Jersey.

Cook County is on a triennial reassessment schedule (city of Chicago, north suburbs, and south suburbs each on different years). Reassessment shocks are real — a north-side Chicago bungalow that paid $7,000 in 2023 might jump to $9,500 in 2026 after reassessment. Always file a property tax appeal in your reassessment year; rough rule of thumb is that 30–50% of appeals get some reduction. The Cook County Assessor's office processes appeals annually, and there's a separate window at the Board of Review.

The Senior Freeze Exemption (for homeowners 65+ with household income under ~$65K) and the General Homestead Exemption are the main relief mechanisms. File for both with the Cook County Assessor or your county equivalent. The Long-Time Occupant Homestead Exemption (LOHE) is Cook-County-specific and worth checking if you've owned 10+ years. Free, takes 30 minutes, real money.

The "should I leave Illinois?" math — actually run

Illinois has been losing population for a decade — about 1.5% net since 2020, mostly to TX, FL, and IN. The reasons are real but often misattributed. Run the numbers for your situation:

Annual state income tax savings: For most Illinoisans, this is genuinely small. A $100K earner saves ~$5K/year by moving to TX/FL. A $250K MFJ couple saves ~$11K. The flat 4.95% is one of the lower combined burdens among high-population states.
Property tax delta: This is where the real "should I leave?" math lives. Trading a $14K Naperville property tax for a $5K Plano or Tampa one is a $9K annual swing — bigger than the income-tax savings for most middle-income earners. For a $3M Lincoln Park townhome ($55K property tax), moving to a $3M Naples Gulf-side property ($25K + $10K insurance) is meaningful five-figure annual savings.
Cost-of-living reality check: Chicago is meaningfully cheaper than most coastal alternatives. A $1.2M Lincoln Park townhouse is a $2.8M Brooklyn brownstone. A 2BR Streeterville apartment at $3,200/mo is a $5,500/mo Manhattan equivalent. The income-tax savings of moving to TX/FL often gets eaten by rebuilding your cost basis in the new market.
Climate and lifestyle: Chicago winters are real. February in particular. If you'd genuinely be happier in Tampa or Phoenix, that's a legitimate reason — taxes are usually a rationalization. If you'd miss the lake, the food, the museums, the architecture, and the L: factor that in honestly.
Pension/retirement angle: Illinois exempts all retirement income (Social Security, pensions, 401(k)/IRA distributions) from state tax — one of the most generous regimes in the country. For retirees with sizeable retirement-account balances, IL is competitive with or better than many "low-tax" states once retirement income is factored in.

For a $200K wage earner with kids in good IL public schools: the math usually says stay. For a $400K family with a $20K+ property tax bill in DuPage or Lake County: it's worth running honestly, especially if you're flexible on geography. For a $1M+ founder facing a liquidity event: TX/FL leaves more on the table than IL does — the pure tax case is real even if Chicago is genuinely a great city to live in.

Compare Two States

See how income tax, take-home pay, and total tax burden differ between any two US states side by side.

State 1

State 2

Things financially comfortable Illinoisans actually do

Illinois's flat-tax structure makes some moves more or less valuable than they'd be elsewhere. A few that actually matter:

Max your 401(k) ($24,500 in 2026) — pre-tax for federal AND Illinois. Saves ~$1,200/year in IL tax alone for the typical professional.
Max your HSA if eligible ($4,400 single / $8,750 family) — pre-tax for federal AND Illinois. IL conforms on HSA, which is the right side of the policy choice.
Backdoor Roth IRA — fully legal, well-established, mostly free. Annoying paperwork, real long-term value.
Mega backdoor Roth if your employer's 401(k) plan allows after-tax contributions. Can shelter another $46K+ annually.
Bright Start (IL 529 plan) — Illinois offers a generous state-tax deduction on contributions: $10,000 single / $20,000 MFJ per beneficiary annually. At 4.95%, that's ~$495–$990 of IL tax saved per year per kid for the typical contributor. One of the best 529 deals in the country.
Property tax appeal — file annually in your reassessment year, and consider hiring a Cook County–experienced property tax attorney for high-value appeals. Most charge contingency-only (33–40% of first-year savings). Easy money for many homeowners.
Senior Freeze Exemption (age 65+, household income under ~$65K) — locks your equalized assessed value at the year you qualify. Massive long-run value for retirees who stay put.
Long-Time Occupant Homestead Exemption (Cook County, 10+ year owners) — caps annual EAV growth at 7%. Easy to forget to apply for; free.
Defined-benefit / cash-balance plan if you're self-employed or run a partnership. Can defer $200K+ annually if structured properly. Hire a CPA.
Retirement income planning: structure withdrawal sequences to take advantage of IL's full retirement-income exemption. Roth conversions in your IL-resident years can be cheaper than the same conversions in CA or NY — worth a CPA conversation.

A friendly nudge: if you're going to do only one thing on this list, file for every property tax exemption you qualify for and appeal your assessment in reassessment years. The IL income tax is small; the property tax is large; that's where the optimization actually lives.

Residency — straightforward in either direction

Illinois doesn't run an aggressive residency audit program. The state's flat 4.95% rate isn't worth the FTB-style hardball that California or New York deploy. The standard relocation playbook applies in either direction:

Get an IL driver's license, register vehicles, register to vote.
Update your address with employer, banks, brokerage, professional licenses.
If you own a home, file the General Homestead Exemption with your county assessor.
Standard 183-day domicile rule applies. IL Department of Revenue uses common-law domicile factors (where you keep your important documents, where your spouse and kids live, etc.) but rarely audits aggressively.
If you're moving FROM Illinois to a no-tax state: complete the standard relocation steps, file IL-1040 part-year for the year of departure, and you're done. IL is unlikely to fight your move.
If you're moving TO Illinois from CA or NY: IL is happy to have you, but your old state may want one last bite — read the CA/NY residency sections for the audit playbook your old state will deploy.

Good news for everyone: IL doesn't have a convenience-of-employer rule like NY. If you live in Indiana and work remotely for a Chicago employer, IL doesn't tax your IN-resident wages on the basis of your employer's location alone (subject to the standard interstate compact rules with IN). The interstate tax answer is generally clean for Illinois.

Real questions people actually ask

Q: Will Illinois ever switch to a progressive income tax?

Possibly, but not soon. Voters rejected the Fair Tax constitutional amendment 53–47% in November 2020. Putting another amendment on the ballot would require a supermajority in the Illinois General Assembly and another statewide referendum. Given the political environment, no near-term momentum. Plan around 4.95% flat for the foreseeable future.

Q: I work in Chicago but live in Indiana. How does that work?

Indiana and Illinois have a reciprocal income tax agreement for wage income. As an Indiana resident working in Illinois, you generally pay Indiana income tax on your wages and don't owe IL income tax — you file IL Form W-5-NR with your employer and Indiana taxes the income. The reverse (IL resident working in IN) works similarly. This is one of the cleanest interstate setups in the country and a real benefit for the Chicago-NW Indiana metro economy.

Q: Does Illinois really exempt all retirement income from state tax?

Yes — and it's unusually generous. IL exempts Social Security, pension income (public AND private), 401(k) distributions, IRA distributions, and Railroad Retirement benefits. There's no income limit and no age requirement. This is why some IL retirees stay put despite high property tax — once you stop having wage income, your state tax bill effectively drops to zero. The retirement-income exemption is worth real money over a 25-year retirement.

Q: How does the IL estate tax work?

Illinois has a state estate tax with a $4 million exemption (lower than the federal exemption of $13.61M, scheduled to halve in 2026). Above $4M, IL estate tax rates climb from 0.8% to 16%. For HNW retirees, this is meaningful — a $10M IL estate could owe $400K–$700K in IL estate tax that wouldn't apply in FL, TX, or 38 other states. Estate planning (credit shelter trusts, lifetime gifting) can substantially reduce exposure. Worth a conversation with an IL-licensed estate attorney if you're in this range.

Q: Why are Cook County property taxes so notoriously complicated?

Cook County uses a unique "classification" system that taxes commercial and industrial property at higher assessment ratios than residential — a Chicago-area political inheritance designed to shift burden away from residential homeowners. Combined with a triennial reassessment cycle, dozens of overlapping taxing districts (school, park, library, mosquito abatement, sanitary, MWRD, etc.), and the equalization factor (state "multiplier") that varies year-to-year, your bill calculation is genuinely opaque. The Cook County Treasurer's website lets you pull your bill's component breakdown — worth doing once per year.

Q: Should I appeal my Cook County property tax assessment?

Almost always yes if you're in a reassessment year (your township's triennial). About 30–50% of homeowners who file an informal appeal at the Assessor's office get some reduction; another round is available at the Board of Review. Many residents hire property tax attorneys who work on contingency (~33% of first-year savings) — for high-value properties, this is usually worthwhile. For a typical $400K Chicago bungalow, a successful appeal might save $300–$800/year, every year until the next reassessment cycle.

Our honest opinion (which is just an opinion)

Quick disclaimer before we get on the soapbox: what follows is one writer's perspective after reading a lot of tax data and talking to a lot of Illinoisans. You're encouraged to disagree, and we genuinely mean that.

Illinois's reputation as a high-tax state is more about property tax than income tax. The flat 4.95% rate is genuinely competitive — better than most progressive-tax states for high earners and on par with the better Midwest options. The actual pain is the property tax bill and the structural pension funding gap that keeps that bill growing.

The case for Illinois is real:

Flat 4.95% income tax — one of the better rates among large states for high earners
Generous retirement income exemption — Social Security, pensions, 401(k) all IL-tax-free
Bright Start 529 deduction is among the best in the country
Cost of living (especially housing) is meaningfully cheaper than coastal alternatives
Chicago is genuinely a great city — food, music, museums, architecture, the lake, the L
Reciprocal tax agreements with neighbors (IN, KY, IA, MI, WI) keep interstate work clean
Strong job market in finance, BigLaw, healthcare, manufacturing, and growing tech

The case against is also real:

Property tax #2 in the nation — bills routinely $10–18K/year in Cook and collar counties
$140B+ unfunded state pension liability puts ongoing upward pressure on local taxes
Triennial reassessment cycle creates real bill-shock risk
$4M IL estate tax exemption is well below the federal figure — real HNW retirement consideration
Population loss — net domestic outflow for over a decade, mostly to lower-tax Sun Belt states
Winters are genuinely long if you're not into them

Honest take: if you're a wage earner under $200K with kids in solid IL public schools, the income tax is a small line — focus on optimizing your property tax (appeal annually) and maxing your retirement accounts. If you're a $400K+ family with a $20K+ property tax bill: the math for moving south is worth running, but the cost-of-living advantage of staying in IL often offsets the income-tax savings of leaving. If you're an HNW retiree planning estate-tax-aware: the $4M IL estate exemption is a meaningful disadvantage vs FL or TX.

If you're considering moving to Chicago for a job: the take-home is genuinely better than NYC or SF at most income levels, and the cost of living is substantially better. The job market depth in finance, law, and healthcare is real.

Either way: it's your life and your money. We just want you to look at the whole picture instead of the parts that fit on a Crain's headline.

What now

Run your numbers in the calculator above. The IL line is small and predictable; spend more attention on the property tax line for your specific address — pull it from your county treasurer's website, not from the listing.

If you own a home in Cook or a collar county and you haven't appealed your assessment in the last reassessment cycle: do it. If you're not maxing your Bright Start 529 contributions and you have kids, fix that. The biggest tax mistake most Illinoisans make isn't paying too much state income tax — it's leaving thousands in property tax appeal savings and 529 deductions on the table because they "didn't get around to it."

Sources & further reading

Where the numbers and rules on this page come from. Verify any claim against the primary source before making a decision based on it.

A few honest notes

Stuff worth keeping in mind:

This is not personal tax, legal, or financial advice. It's a friendly, well-researched explainer. Your situation has details we can't see from here. Please run your specific numbers by a licensed CPA, EA, or tax attorney before making any meaningful decision.
Tax law changes. This guide reflects 2026 IRS schedules and current Illinois Department of Revenue rules. Brackets, deductions, exemptions, and rules can be updated by Congress, the Illinois General Assembly, or the courts at any time.
Property tax estimates are illustrative and vary widely by county, township, school district, and special taxing jurisdiction. Your actual bill depends on your specific PIN — pull it from your county treasurer's website.
The numbers are illustrative. Scenarios assume standard filing situations and don't include every credit, deduction, NIIT, AMT, equity-comp wrinkle, K-1 income, or out-of-state complication that might apply to you.
Reading this page does not create a client relationship with the writer, ProSalaryTax, or anyone affiliated. We're just here to help you think clearly.
No judgment, regardless of which IL county you live in or how much you make. Teachers, traders, founders, retirees, and everyone in between — you're all welcome here.

Last updated April 2026 with 2026 IRS schedules and current IL Department of Revenue guidance. Numbers assume single filer except where noted. This is journalism with a calculator attached, not tax advice. Be kind to yourself in March.