What Speech-Language Pathologists earn in Kane County, IL
The median pay for Speech-Language Pathologists in Kane County, IL is $98,490 per year, which works out to $47.35 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 Kane 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 $95,200, which is 3.3% below the median, which suggests many workers sit near the top of the pay scale. The survey counts about 7,150 people working in this occupation across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Kane County, IL has roughly 517,255 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Speech-Language Pathologists in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $62,470 a year ($30.03 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $124,400 or more ($59.81 an hour). That is a gap of $61,930 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $77,960 at the 25th percentile and $109,640 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.0 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: $47.35 an hour or $98,490 a year at the median for Kane County, IL. Before any deductions, that is $8,208 a month, $3,788 every two weeks and $1,894 each week. After taxes the same job pays $35.15 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Speech-Language Pathologists
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Speech-Language Pathologists this way: "Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. May select alternative communication systems and teach their use. May perform research related to speech and language problems."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly"; "Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to collect information on type and degree of impairments, using written or oral tests or special instruments"; "Develop or implement treatment plans for problems such as stuttering, delayed language, swallowing disorders, or inappropriate pitch or harsh voice problems, based on own assessments and recommendations of physicians, psychologists, or social workers"; "Instruct clients in techniques for more effective communication, such as sign language, lip reading, or voice improvement".
Job outlook for Speech-Language Pathologists
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 193,400 jobs in 2025 to 225,500 in 2035, a change of +16.6%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 12,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 6.5% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: master's degree. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: internship/residency. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $97,870 for this occupation; the Kane County, IL median of $98,490 is 0.6% above it.
How pay in Kane County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
A worker in this occupation in Kane County, IL earns $4,864 more than the Illinois average of $93,626, a premium of 5.2%. Over a year that premium is worth $4,864 before tax and roughly $3,610 after tax. Within Illinois, Kane County, IL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Speech-Language Pathologists is $96,353 across the contiguous United States. At $98,490, Kane County, IL pays $2,137 more, which is 2.2% 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 Kane County, IL
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Kane County, IL, Speech-Language Pathologists ranks number 147 by median pay, ahead of about 76% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,760 a year, which is $75,270 more than the median for Speech-Language Pathologists.
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 Speech-Language Pathologists earning the Kane County, IL median of $98,490, they add up to $25,385. The result is $73,105 of take-home pay a year ($6,092 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $26 goes to taxes and $74 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 25.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $82,740. 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 $13,117, an effective 13.3% 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 $6,106 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,428. FICA totals $7,534, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $4,734 a year, or 4.8% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 36% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $395 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 Kane County, IL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Kane County, IL show an average adjusted gross income of $94,999 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.6% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 8.8%, compared with the 13.3% 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 Kane County, IL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Kane County, IL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $73,105 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Kane 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 Speech-Language Pathologists, a one-bedroom absorbs 29.2% of take-home pay and 21.7% 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 3.5% of gross pay for Speech-Language Pathologists in Kane 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 Kane County, IL. Subtract that from $73,105 of take-home pay and $44,728 remains, which is $3,727 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 45.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Kane County, IL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Kane 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 Kane County, IL, set beside the Illinois and national medians.
Property taxes in Kane County, IL
Homeowners in Kane County, IL pay a median of $7,382 a year in real estate taxes, 39% above the Illinois median of $5,298 and 137% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $327,000, the median tax bill is 2.26% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Speech-Language Pathologists median of $98,490, 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 Kane County, IL
Renters in Kane County, IL pay a median gross rent of $1,453 a month in the Census survey, 14% 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 $327,000, 24% above the Illinois median of $263,300. Median household income is $103,163, 24% above the Illinois median of $83,390, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 20.7% of that income.
Commuting in Kane County, IL
Workers in Kane County, IL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 27.8 minutes each way, in line with the Illinois average of 27.8. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.6 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 15.9% of workers in Kane County, IL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Speech-Language Pathologists afford to live in Kane 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 $98,490 that ceiling is $2,462 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,780 is $682 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 Speech-Language Pathologists is $47.35, which is 38% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $35.15 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 11.7 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 $54,022.
How fast you can save
At $3,727 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Speech-Language Pathologists pay in Kane County, IL
How much do Speech-Language Pathologists make per hour in Kane County, IL?
The median is $47.35 per hour, based on $98,490 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $30.03 at the 10th percentile to $59.81 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Speech-Language Pathologists take home after taxes in Kane County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $98,490 becomes $73,105 a year. That is $6,092 a month, $2,812 every two weeks or $1,406 a week.
How much tax do Speech-Language Pathologists pay in Kane County, IL?
Total taxes are $25,385 a year, an effective rate of 25.8%: $13,117 federal income tax, $7,534 FICA and $4,734 Illinois income tax.
Do Speech-Language Pathologists earn more in Kane County, IL than elsewhere in Illinois?
Yes. The local median of $98,490 is +5.2% versus the Illinois average of $93,626, a difference of $4,864 a year.
Can Speech-Language Pathologists afford a one-bedroom apartment in Kane County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,780 a month against take-home pay of $6,092, which is 29.2% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,462 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Speech-Language Pathologists in Kane County, IL?
About $3,727 a month ($44,728 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 Kane 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 Speech-Language Pathologists is $47.35.
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.