What Special Education Teachers, Secondary School earn in Cook County, IL
The median pay for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Cook County, IL is $82,350 per year, which works out to $39.59 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, the labor market that Cook County, IL belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $91,740, which is 11.4% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,360 people working in this occupation across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Cook County, IL has roughly 5,182,090 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $60,540 a year ($29.11 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $131,530 or more ($63.24 an hour). That is a gap of $70,990 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $74,090 at the 25th percentile and $104,990 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.2 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $39.59 an hour or $82,350 a year at the median for Cook County, IL. Before any deductions, that is $6,863 a month, $3,167 every two weeks and $1,584 each week. After taxes the same job pays $30.07 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Special Education Teachers, Secondary School this way: "Teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations"; "Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement"; "Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities"; "Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students".
Job outlook for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 164,800 jobs in 2025 to 164,500 in 2035, a change of -0.2%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 10,400 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 6.3% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $74,260 for this occupation; the Cook County, IL median of $82,350 is 10.9% above it.
How pay in Cook County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
A worker in this occupation in Cook County, IL earns $5,970 more than the Illinois average of $76,380, a premium of 7.8%. Over a year that premium is worth $5,970 before tax and roughly $4,535 after tax. Within Illinois, Cook County, IL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School is $76,225 across the contiguous United States. At $82,350, Cook County, IL pays $6,125 more, which is 8.0% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Cook County, IL
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Cook County, IL, Special Education Teachers, Secondary School ranks number 187 by median pay, ahead of about 70% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,760 a year, which is $91,410 more than the median for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Special Education Teachers, Secondary School earning the Cook County, IL median of $82,350, they add up to $19,801. The result is $62,549 of take-home pay a year ($5,212 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $24 goes to taxes and $76 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 24.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $66,600. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $9,566, an effective 11.6% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $5,106 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,194. FICA totals $6,300, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $3,935 a year, or 4.8% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 41% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $328 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Cook County, IL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Cook County, IL show an average adjusted gross income of $105,065 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.4% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 10.0%, compared with the 11.6% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Cook County, IL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Cook County, IL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $62,549 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Cook County, IL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,780 a month ($21,360 a year), and at $2,011 for two bedrooms. For Special Education Teachers, Secondary School, a one-bedroom absorbs 34.1% of take-home pay and 25.9% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.2% of gross pay for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Cook County, IL. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Illinois residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,677 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $434, for $2,110 in total. Gasoline in Illinois averages $3.18 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,471.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $28,377 a year in Cook County, IL. Subtract that from $62,549 of take-home pay and $34,172 remains, which is $2,848 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 41.5% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Cook County, IL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Cook County, IL: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Cook County, IL, set beside the Illinois and national medians.
Property taxes in Cook County, IL
Homeowners in Cook County, IL pay a median of $6,191 a year in real estate taxes, 17% above the Illinois median of $5,298 and 98% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $324,500, the median tax bill is 1.91% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Special Education Teachers, Secondary School median of $82,350, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Cook County, IL
Renters in Cook County, IL pay a median gross rent of $1,435 a month in the Census survey, 13% above the Illinois median of $1,274. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,780 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $324,500, 23% above the Illinois median of $263,300. Median household income is $83,498, in line with the Illinois median of $83,390, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 25.6% of that income.
Commuting in Cook County, IL
Workers in Cook County, IL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.5 minutes each way, 13% above the Illinois average of 27.8. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 18.9% of workers in Cook County, IL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Special Education Teachers, Secondary School afford to live in Cook County, IL?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $82,350 that ceiling is $2,059 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,780 is $279 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $34.23 an hour; the median for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School is $39.59, which is 16% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $30.07 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,011 a month means $1,006 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $9,294 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $43,466.
How fast you can save
At $2,848 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 4 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 8 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Special Education Teachers, Secondary School pay in Cook County, IL
How much do Special Education Teachers, Secondary School make per hour in Cook County, IL?
The median is $39.59 per hour, based on $82,350 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $29.11 at the 10th percentile to $63.24 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Special Education Teachers, Secondary School take home after taxes in Cook County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $82,350 becomes $62,549 a year. That is $5,212 a month, $2,406 every two weeks or $1,203 a week.
How much tax do Special Education Teachers, Secondary School pay in Cook County, IL?
Total taxes are $19,801 a year, an effective rate of 24.0%: $9,566 federal income tax, $6,300 FICA and $3,935 Illinois income tax.
Do Special Education Teachers, Secondary School earn more in Cook County, IL than elsewhere in Illinois?
Yes. The local median of $82,350 is +7.8% versus the Illinois average of $76,380, a difference of $5,970 a year.
Can Special Education Teachers, Secondary School afford a one-bedroom apartment in Cook County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,780 a month against take-home pay of $5,212, which is 34.1% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,059 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Cook County, IL?
About $2,848 a month ($34,172 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $28,377 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Cook County, IL at the 30% guideline?
$34.23 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $21,360 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School is $39.59.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Illinois rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.