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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Receptionists And Information Clerks Salary: Illinois vs Washington

Receptionists And Information Clerks earn a median of $37,150 in Illinois and $43,760 in Washington. That is a nominal gap of $6,610 (-15.1%), with Washington paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$37,150
Illinois median
$37,166 after COL
$43,760
Washington median
$40,892 after COL
-15.1%
Nominal gap
Washington leads
-9.1%
Adjusted gap
Washington leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Washington pays $6,610 more per year than Illinois for receptionists and information clerks, a gap of +15.1%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Washington still comes out ahead, with roughly $3,727 of extra purchasing power (+9.1% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for receptionists and information clerks in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Receptionists And Information Clerks

Illinois

Median salary
$37,150
Mean salary
$38,850
Employment
39,800
Location quotient
1.05
Jobs per 1,000
6.6
COL-adjusted median
$37,166
Regional Price Parity
100.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Receptionists And Information Clerks page for Illinois →

Receptionists And Information Clerks

Washington

Median salary
$43,760
Mean salary
$44,760
Employment
25,190
Location quotient
1.14
Jobs per 1,000
7.1
COL-adjusted median
$40,892
Regional Price Parity
107.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Receptionists And Information Clerks page for Washington →

Related pages

Keep digging into receptionists and information clerks from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a state specializes in.