Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $82K, rent takes 27.3% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,407/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new environmental scientists and specialists, including healths typically earn — is $47K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,792/month. At HUD’s $1,407/month FMR, rent would take 50% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $82K locally vs. $82K nationally, a 1% difference.

Illinois pays $82K median vs. the U.S. average of $82K — that’s -1%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 93.85), the purchasing-power equivalent is $87K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $81,590 a year, that works out to about $39 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $46,540, and experienced environmental scientists and specialists, including healths can clear $153,150. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,145/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,407/month, which eats 27.3% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Illinois has a Regional Price Parity of 93.85 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median environmental scientists and specialists, including health salary is worth about $86,937 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.