What Retail Salespersons earn in Monroe County, IL
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $33,820: the median annual pay for Retail Salespersons in Monroe County, IL. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $16.26 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $37,070, which is 9.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 29,750 people working in this occupation across the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Monroe County, IL has roughly 35,036 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Retail Salespersons in the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $29,670 a year ($14.26 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $47,490 or more ($22.83 an hour). That is a gap of $17,820 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $30,990 at the 25th percentile and $37,420 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 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: $16.26 an hour or $33,820 a year at the median for Monroe County, IL. Before any deductions, that is $2,818 a month, $1,301 every two weeks and $650 each week. After taxes the same job pays $13.35 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Monroe County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
Pay in Monroe County, IL runs $953 below the Illinois average of $34,773, a gap of 2.7%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Illinois would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Illinois, the highest median we track for this job is $35,820 in Cook County, IL.
Compared with the national average
Nationally, Retail Salespersons earn an employment-weighted average of $34,080 across the contiguous United States, so $33,820 in Monroe County, IL is essentially average. 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 Monroe County, IL
Among the 578 occupations with published wages in Monroe County, IL, Retail Salespersons ranks number 552 by median pay, ahead of about 5% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $93,140 a year, which is $59,320 more than the median for Retail Salespersons.
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 Retail Salespersons earning the Monroe County, IL median of $33,820, they add up to $6,050. The result is $27,770 of take-home pay a year ($2,314 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $18 goes to taxes and $82 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $18,070. 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 $1,930, an effective 5.7% 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 $2,097 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $490. FICA totals $2,587, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $1,533 a year, or 4.5% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 79% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $128 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 Monroe County, IL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Monroe County, IL show an average adjusted gross income of $103,494 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.3%, compared with the 5.7% 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 Monroe County, IL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Monroe County, IL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $27,770 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Monroe County, IL, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,104 a month ($13,248 a year), and at $1,349 for two bedrooms. For Retail Salespersons, a one-bedroom absorbs 47.7% of take-home pay and 39.2% 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 10.2% of gross pay for Retail Salespersons in Monroe 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 $20,265 a year in Monroe County, IL. Subtract that from $27,770 of take-home pay and $7,505 remains, which is $625 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 22.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Retail Salespersons afford to live in Monroe 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 $33,820 that ceiling is $846 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,104 is $259 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $21.23 an hour; the median for Retail Salespersons is $16.26, which is 23% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $13.35 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 19.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,349 a month means $675 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,154 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $12,659.
How fast you can save
At $625 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 16 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 32 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Retail Salespersons pay in Monroe County, IL
How much do Retail Salespersons make per hour in Monroe County, IL?
The median is $16.26 per hour, based on $33,820 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.26 at the 10th percentile to $22.83 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Retail Salespersons take home after taxes in Monroe County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $33,820 becomes $27,770 a year. That is $2,314 a month, $1,068 every two weeks or $534 a week.
How much tax do Retail Salespersons pay in Monroe County, IL?
Total taxes are $6,050 a year, an effective rate of 17.9%: $1,930 federal income tax, $2,587 FICA and $1,533 Illinois income tax.
Do Retail Salespersons earn more in Monroe County, IL than elsewhere in Illinois?
No. The local median of $33,820 is -2.7% versus the Illinois average of $34,773, a difference of $953 a year.
Can Retail Salespersons afford a one-bedroom apartment in Monroe County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,104 a month against take-home pay of $2,314, which is 47.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $846 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Retail Salespersons in Monroe County, IL?
About $625 a month ($7,505 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,265 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Monroe County, IL at the 30% guideline?
$21.23 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,248 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Retail Salespersons is $16.26.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the St. Louis, MO-IL 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.