What Flight Attendants earn in Kendall County, IL
The median pay for Flight Attendants in Kendall County, IL is $62,120 per year, which works out to $29.87 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 Kendall 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 $72,870, which is 17.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 9,240 people working in this occupation across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Kendall County, IL has roughly 137,675 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Flight Attendants in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $40,040 a year ($19.25 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $98,940 or more ($47.57 an hour). That is a gap of $58,900 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $60,320 at the 25th percentile and $77,720 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.5 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: $29.87 an hour or $62,120 a year at the median for Kendall County, IL. Before any deductions, that is $5,177 a month, $2,389 every two weeks and $1,195 each week. After taxes the same job pays $23.61 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Flight Attendants
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Flight Attendants this way: "Monitor safety of the aircraft cabin. Provide services to airline passengers, explain safety information, serve food and beverages, and respond to emergency incidents."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Direct and assist passengers in emergency procedures, such as evacuating a plane following an emergency landing"; "Announce and demonstrate safety and emergency procedures, such as the use of oxygen masks, seat belts, and life jackets"; "Walk aisles of planes to verify that passengers have complied with federal regulations prior to takeoffs and landings"; "Verify that first aid kits and other emergency equipment, including fire extinguishers and oxygen bottles, are in working order".
Job outlook for Flight Attendants
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 133,700 jobs in 2025 to 145,500 in 2035, a change of +8.8%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 18,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.8% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Work experience in a related occupation: less than 5 years. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $63,580 for this occupation; the Kendall County, IL median of $62,120 is 2.3% below it.
How pay in Kendall County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
Pay for Flight Attendants in Kendall County, IL is in line with the statewide figure: $62,120 locally against an employment-weighted Illinois average of $62,120, a difference of only $0 (0.0%). Within Illinois, Kendall County, IL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Flight Attendants is $75,445 across the contiguous United States. At $62,120, Kendall County, IL pays $13,325 less, which is 17.7% below 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 Kendall County, IL
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Kendall County, IL, Flight Attendants ranks number 337 by median pay, ahead of about 46% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,760 a year, which is $111,640 more than the median for Flight Attendants.
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 Flight Attendants earning the Kendall County, IL median of $62,120, they add up to $13,012. The result is $49,108 of take-home pay a year ($4,092 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $21 goes to taxes and $79 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 20.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $46,370. 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 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $5,326, an effective 8.6% of gross pay, well below the 12% 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 $3,851 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $901. FICA totals $4,752, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $2,934 a year, or 4.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 55% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $244 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 Kendall County, IL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Kendall County, IL show an average adjusted gross income of $92,441 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.1% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.0%, compared with the 8.6% 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 Kendall County, IL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Kendall County, IL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $49,108 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Kendall County, IL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,790 a month ($21,480 a year), and at $2,341 for two bedrooms. For Flight Attendants, a one-bedroom absorbs 43.7% of take-home pay and 34.6% 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 5.5% of gross pay for Flight Attendants in Kendall 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 $28,497 a year in Kendall County, IL. Subtract that from $49,108 of take-home pay and $20,611 remains, which is $1,718 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 33.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Kendall County, IL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Kendall 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 Kendall County, IL, set beside the Illinois and national medians.
Property taxes in Kendall County, IL
Homeowners in Kendall County, IL pay a median of $7,651 a year in real estate taxes, 44% above the Illinois median of $5,298 and 145% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $322,400, the median tax bill is 2.37% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Flight Attendants median of $62,120, a tax bill of that size would equal 12.3% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Kendall County, IL
Renters in Kendall County, IL pay a median gross rent of $1,781 a month in the Census survey, 40% 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 $1,790 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 $322,400, 22% above the Illinois median of $263,300. Median household income is $111,601, 34% above the Illinois median of $83,390, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.2% of that income.
Commuting in Kendall County, IL
Workers in Kendall County, IL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.6 minutes each way, 14% 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. 14.7% of workers in Kendall County, IL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Flight Attendants afford to live in Kendall 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 $62,120 that ceiling is $1,553 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,790 is $237 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $34.42 an hour; the median for Flight Attendants is $29.87, which is 13% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $23.61 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 17.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,341 a month means $1,171 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,434 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $28,045.
How fast you can save
At $1,718 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 6 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 12 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Flight Attendants pay in Kendall County, IL
How much do Flight Attendants make per hour in Kendall County, IL?
The median is $29.87 per hour, based on $62,120 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.25 at the 10th percentile to $47.57 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Flight Attendants take home after taxes in Kendall County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $62,120 becomes $49,108 a year. That is $4,092 a month, $1,889 every two weeks or $944 a week.
How much tax do Flight Attendants pay in Kendall County, IL?
Total taxes are $13,012 a year, an effective rate of 20.9%: $5,326 federal income tax, $4,752 FICA and $2,934 Illinois income tax.
Do Flight Attendants earn more in Kendall County, IL than elsewhere in Illinois?
It is about the same. The local median of $62,120 is within 0.0% of the Illinois average of $62,120.
Can Flight Attendants afford a one-bedroom apartment in Kendall County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,790 a month against take-home pay of $4,092, which is 43.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,553 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Flight Attendants in Kendall County, IL?
About $1,718 a month ($20,611 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $28,497 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Kendall County, IL at the 30% guideline?
$34.42 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $21,480 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Flight Attendants is $29.87.
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.