What Cargo and Freight Agents earn in Kendall County, IL
According to the latest federal wage data for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area, the median pay for Cargo and Freight Agents in Kendall County, IL is $59,850 a year, or $28.77 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $47,396 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Kendall County, IL.
The mean wage is $58,140, which is 2.9% below the median, which suggests many workers sit near the top of the pay scale. The survey counts about 5,630 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 Cargo and Freight Agents in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $40,030 a year ($19.25 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $80,580 or more ($38.74 an hour). That is a gap of $40,550 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $48,880 at the 25th percentile and $62,480 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: $28.77 an hour or $59,850 a year at the median for Kendall County, IL. Before any deductions, that is $4,988 a month, $2,302 every two weeks and $1,151 each week. After taxes the same job pays $22.79 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Cargo and Freight Agents
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Cargo and Freight Agents this way: "Expedite and route movement of incoming and outgoing cargo and freight shipments in airline, train, and trucking terminals and shipping docks. Take orders from customers and arrange pickup of freight and cargo for delivery to loading platform. Prepare and examine bills of lading to determine shipping charges and tariffs."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Negotiate and arrange transport of goods with shipping or freight companies"; "Advise clients on transportation and payment methods"; "Determine method of shipment and prepare bills of lading, invoices, and other shipping documents"; "Estimate freight or postal rates and record shipment costs and weights".
Job outlook for Cargo and Freight Agents
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 100,300 jobs in 2025 to 106,400 in 2035, a change of +6.2%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 9,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.0% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $52,260 for this occupation; the Kendall County, IL median of $59,850 is 14.5% above it.
How pay in Kendall County, IL compares
Compared with the Illinois average
A worker in this occupation in Kendall County, IL earns $1,169 more than the Illinois average of $58,681, a premium of 2.0%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,169 before tax and roughly $926 after tax. 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 Cargo and Freight Agents is $53,765 across the contiguous United States. At $59,850, Kendall County, IL pays $6,085 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 Kendall County, IL
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Kendall County, IL, Cargo and Freight Agents ranks number 362 by median pay, ahead of about 41% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers at $293,490 a year, which is $233,640 more than the median for Cargo and Freight Agents.
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 Cargo and Freight Agents earning the Kendall County, IL median of $59,850, they add up to $12,454. The result is $47,396 of take-home pay a year ($3,950 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 20.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $44,100. 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 $5,054, an effective 8.4% 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 $3,711 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $868. FICA totals $4,579, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Illinois
Illinois income tax on this salary is $2,822 a year, or 4.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 56% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $235 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 8.4% 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 $47,396 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 Cargo and Freight Agents, a one-bedroom absorbs 45.3% of take-home pay and 35.9% 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 5.7% of gross pay for Cargo and Freight Agents 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 $47,396 of take-home pay and $18,900 remains, which is $1,575 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 31.6% 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 Cargo and Freight Agents median of $59,850, a tax bill of that size would equal 12.8% 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 Cargo and Freight Agents 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 $59,850 that ceiling is $1,496 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,790 is $294 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 Cargo and Freight Agents is $28.77, which is 16% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $22.79 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 18.1 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 $26,334.
How fast you can save
At $1,575 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 7 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 14 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cargo and Freight Agents pay in Kendall County, IL
How much do Cargo and Freight Agents make per hour in Kendall County, IL?
The median is $28.77 per hour, based on $59,850 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $19.25 at the 10th percentile to $38.74 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Cargo and Freight Agents take home after taxes in Kendall County, IL?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $59,850 becomes $47,396 a year. That is $3,950 a month, $1,823 every two weeks or $911 a week.
How much tax do Cargo and Freight Agents pay in Kendall County, IL?
Total taxes are $12,454 a year, an effective rate of 20.8%: $5,054 federal income tax, $4,579 FICA and $2,822 Illinois income tax.
Do Cargo and Freight Agents earn more in Kendall County, IL than elsewhere in Illinois?
Yes. The local median of $59,850 is +2.0% versus the Illinois average of $58,681, a difference of $1,169 a year.
Can Cargo and Freight Agents afford a one-bedroom apartment in Kendall County, IL?
A one-bedroom costs $1,790 a month against take-home pay of $3,950, which is 45.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,496 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Cargo and Freight Agents in Kendall County, IL?
About $1,575 a month ($18,900 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 Cargo and Freight Agents is $28.77.
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.