What Food Batchmakers earn in Grundy County, IL
The median pay for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL is $47,660 per year, which works out to $22.91 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 Grundy 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 $48,490, which is 1.7% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 8,490 people working in this occupation across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Grundy County, IL has roughly 53,219 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Food Batchmakers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $34,760 a year ($16.71 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $61,440 or more ($29.54 an hour). That is a gap of $26,680 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $39,250 at the 25th percentile and $57,090 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.8 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL is $22.91. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $47,660, and the same salary is $3,972 a month before taxes or about $1,833 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $18.37 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Food Batchmakers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Food Batchmakers this way: "Set up and operate equipment that mixes or blends ingredients used in the manufacturing of food products. Includes candy makers and cheese makers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Record production and test data for each food product batch, such as the ingredients used, temperature, test results, and time cycle"; "Observe gauges and thermometers to determine if the mixing chamber temperature is within specified limits, and turn valves to control the temperature"; "Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas"; "Press switches and turn knobs to start, adjust, and regulate equipment, such as beaters, extruders, discharge pipes, and salt pumps".
Job outlook for Food Batchmakers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 176,800 jobs in 2025 to 188,200 in 2035, a change of +6.5%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 23,100 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.1% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $42,290 for this occupation; the Grundy County, IL median of $47,660 is 12.7% above it.
How pay in Grundy County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
Pay for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL is in line with the statewide figure: $47,660 locally against an employment-weighted Illinois average of $47,890, a difference of only $230 (0.5%). Within Illinois, Grundy County, IL already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Food Batchmakers is $42,808 across the contiguous United States. At $47,660, Grundy County, IL pays $4,853 more, which is 11.3% 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 Grundy County, IL
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Grundy County, IL, Food Batchmakers ranks number 475 by median pay, ahead of about 23% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,760 a year, which is $126,100 more than the median for Food Batchmakers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $47,660 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $9,455 a year, which leaves $38,205, or $3,184 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $20 goes to taxes and $80 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $31,910. 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 $3,591, an effective 7.5% 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 $2,955 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $691. FICA totals $3,646, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $2,218 a year, or 4.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 62% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $185 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 Grundy County, IL
IRS Statistics of Income data for Grundy County, IL show an average adjusted gross income of $86,171 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.7% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.2%, compared with the 7.5% 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 Grundy County, IL
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Grundy County, IL: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $38,205 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Grundy County, IL is $1,233 a month, or $14,796 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,613 a month. For Food Batchmakers, a one-bedroom absorbs 38.7% of take-home pay and 31.0% 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 7.2% of gross pay for Food Batchmakers in Grundy 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
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $21,813 a year, 57% of take-home pay. That leaves $16,392 a year, or $1,366 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 34.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Grundy County, IL
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Grundy 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 Grundy County, IL, set beside the Illinois and national medians.
Property taxes in Grundy County, IL
Homeowners in Grundy County, IL pay a median of $5,420 a year in real estate taxes, 2% above the Illinois median of $5,298 and 74% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $271,700, the median tax bill is 1.99% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Food Batchmakers median of $47,660, a tax bill of that size would equal 11.4% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Grundy County, IL
Renters in Grundy County, IL pay a median gross rent of $1,177 a month in the Census survey, 8% below the Illinois median of $1,274. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,233 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 $271,700, 3% above the Illinois median of $263,300. Median household income is $92,235, 11% above the Illinois median of $83,390, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 16.0% of that income.
Commuting in Grundy County, IL
Workers in Grundy County, IL who travel to a workplace spend an average of 26.8 minutes each way, 4% below the Illinois average of 27.8. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 10.0% of workers in Grundy County, IL work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Food Batchmakers afford to live in Grundy 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 $47,660 that ceiling is $1,192 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,233 is $42 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $23.71 an hour; the median for Food Batchmakers is $22.91, which is 3% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.37 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 15.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,613 a month means $807 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,118 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $21,510.
How fast you can save
At $1,366 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 8 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 16 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Food Batchmakers pay in Grundy County, IL
What is the hourly wage for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL?
The median is $22.91 per hour, based on $47,660 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.71 at the 10th percentile to $29.54 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $47,660 becomes $38,205 a year. That is $3,184 a month, $1,469 every two weeks or $735 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL?
Total taxes are $9,455 a year, an effective rate of 19.8%: $3,591 federal income tax, $3,646 FICA and $2,218 Illinois income tax.
Is pay for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL above the Illinois average?
It is about the same. The local median of $47,660 is within 0.5% of the Illinois average of $47,890.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Food Batchmakers salary in Grundy County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,233 a month against take-home pay of $3,184, which is 38.7% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,192 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Food Batchmakers in Grundy County, IL?
About $1,366 a month ($16,392 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,813 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Grundy County, IL at the 30% guideline?
$23.71 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,796 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Food Batchmakers is $22.91.
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.