Take-home pay compared · Tax year 2026
Illinois vs Indiana taxes
Indiana's state rate is two points below Illinois's, and the calculator shows what that is worth. Your Indiana county's own income tax decides how much of it you actually keep.
Illinois
$2,231.73
take-home a paycheck · $58,025 a year
Effective tax rate 22.6%
Indiana
$2,284.99
take-home a paycheck · $59,410 a year
Effective tax rate 20.8%
On $75,000, you keep $1,385 more a year in Indiana than in Illinois. That is $53.26 a paycheck, paid every two weeks.
| Deduction | Illinois | Indiana |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | −$295.00 | −$295.00 |
| Social Security & Medicare | −$220.67 | −$220.67 |
| State income tax | −$137.22 | −$83.96 |
| State payroll deductions | None | None |
| Total tax | −$652.89 | −$599.63 |
| Take-home | $2,231.73 | $2,284.99 |
Income and payroll taxes only, for wage income with no pre-tax deductions or dependents. Full working for each side: Illinois paycheck calculator · Indiana paycheck calculator.
Illinois and Indiana side by side, 2026
| Illinois | Indiana | |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | 4.95% flat | 2.95% flat |
| Standard deduction (single) | $2,925 exemption | $1,000 exemption |
| Payroll deductions | None | None |
Take-home at every salary
| Salary | Illinois | Indiana | Difference | Keeps more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $24,945 | $25,430 | $485 | Indiana |
| $40,000 | $32,485 | $33,170 | $685 | Indiana |
| $50,000 | $40,025 | $40,910 | $885 | Indiana |
| $60,000 | $47,565 | $48,650 | $1,085 | Indiana |
| $75,000 | $58,025 | $59,410 | $1,385 | Indiana |
| $100,000 | $74,375 | $76,260 | $1,885 | Indiana |
| $125,000 | $90,661 | $93,046 | $2,385 | Indiana |
| $150,000 | $106,511 | $109,396 | $2,885 | Indiana |
| $200,000 | $139,172 | $143,057 | $3,885 | Indiana |
| $250,000 | $170,952 | $175,837 | $4,885 | Indiana |
| $500,000 | $315,727 | $325,756 | $10,030 | Indiana |
| Salary | Illinois | Indiana | Difference | Keeps more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $49,890 | $50,859 | $969 | Indiana |
| $80,000 | $64,970 | $66,339 | $1,369 | Indiana |
| $100,000 | $80,050 | $81,819 | $1,769 | Indiana |
| $150,000 | $116,050 | $118,819 | $2,769 | Indiana |
| $200,000 | $149,711 | $153,480 | $3,769 | Indiana |
| $250,000 | $185,383 | $190,152 | $4,769 | Indiana |
| $300,000 | $219,733 | $225,502 | $5,769 | Indiana |
| $400,000 | $288,433 | $296,202 | $7,769 | Indiana |
| $500,000 | $351,993 | $361,762 | $9,769 | Indiana |
Where the difference comes from
Neither state deducts a payroll levy, and neither has a standard deduction. Illinois charges 4.95% after an exemption of $2,925. Indiana charges 2.95% after an exemption of $1,000. On $75,000 that is $3,568 against $2,183, and a single filer keeps $1,385 more in Indiana before any county tax.
Because both taxes are flat, the gap is close to 2% of whatever you earn: $885 on $50,000, $2,885 on $150,000 and $10,030 on $500,000. Illinois also withdraws its exemption entirely above $250,000, which is why the gap steps up at the top. A couple filing jointly on $150,000 keeps $2,769 more in Indiana.
The county tax decides it
The Indiana column is the state’s share only. Every one of Indiana’s 92 counties levies its own income tax, typically between 1% and 3%, and there is no county without one. The rate is fixed by the county you lived in on January 1, not where you work.
Indiana’s lead on $75,000 comes to 1.85% of the salary. Set that against the county range: in a county near 1%, Indiana stays comfortably ahead; in a county charging about 2% or more, the county tax takes the whole state saving and Illinois comes out level or ahead. Check your own county’s rate before relying on the Indiana column.
Commuting between the two
For anyone commuting between northwest Indiana and the Chicago area, the two states have no reciprocal agreement. An Illinois resident working in Indiana files a nonresident Indiana return and claims a credit against Illinois tax, capped at what Illinois would have charged. With Indiana’s rate the lower of the two, that commuter’s state income tax ends up at about the Illinois figure.
In the other direction, an Indiana resident working in Illinois files an Illinois return with Schedule NR, the Illinois Department of Revenue says, and is taxed by Illinois on the income from Illinois sources. Neither case is modeled here: the figures assume you live and work in the same state.
Where Indiana’s rate is heading
Indiana cut its rate from 3.00% to 2.95% on January 1, 2026, and a further step to 2.90% is scheduled for 2027, with reductions as low as 2.55% possible from 2030 if revenue triggers are met. County rates are set locally and do not follow that path. Illinois’s 4.95% sits under a constitution that requires a single rate, and voters rejected a move to graduated rates in 2020.
Questions people ask
- Do you take home more in Illinois or Indiana on $75,000?
- Indiana, by $1,385 a year, or $115 a month, for a single filer in 2026. That counts federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax and every state payroll deduction.
- Is the difference the same at every salary?
- No, but the same side stays ahead. The gap is $485 a year at $30,000 and $4,885 at $250,000, for a single filer.
- Is there a reciprocal agreement between Illinois and Indiana?
- No. Illinois's reciprocal agreements cover Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin only. An Illinois resident working in Indiana files a nonresident Indiana return and claims a credit on the Illinois return, capped at what Illinois would have charged. An Indiana resident working in Illinois files an Illinois nonresident return for the income earned there.
- Does the Indiana figure include county income tax?
- No. All 92 Indiana counties levy one, typically between 1% and 3%, set by the county you lived in on January 1 of the tax year, and it is reported on the same state return. Illinois has no local income tax anywhere, Chicago included.
- Does either state have a standard deduction?
- No. Illinois allows an exemption allowance per person, withdrawn entirely at high incomes, and Indiana a smaller personal exemption per taxpayer and dependent. Almost all of a salary is taxed in both, so each state's effective rate stays close to its headline rate.
What this comparison covers
Income tax and payroll deductions on wages: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, every state payroll deduction. It does not compare sales tax, property tax, housing or the cost of living, which can outweigh the difference in take-home pay. Figures assume the standard deduction, no dependents and no pre-tax retirement contributions. See how we calculate.
Where the Illinois figures come from
Every Illinois number on this page was read from the documents below — the state's own, not a summary of them. Nothing here is estimated. If a figure looks wrong, the source is one click away, and we would rather you checked.
- Income tax ratestax.illinois.gov
The single flat rate the Illinois constitution requires, and the exemption allowance per person.
- Benefit Rights Information for Claimants and Employersides.illinois.gov
That unemployment benefits are financed by employer payroll taxes, not by any deduction from wages.
Where the Indiana figures come from
Every Indiana number on this page was read from the documents below — the state's own, not a summary of them. Nothing here is estimated. If a figure looks wrong, the source is one click away, and we would rather you checked.
- Individual Income Taxesin.gov
The flat rate for 2026, the $1,000 personal exemption, and that all 92 counties levy their own tax on top.