What payroll taxes does an Illinois employer pay?

Employers pay the matching half of FICA — 6.2% Social Security up to the wage base and 1.45% Medicare with no cap — plus federal FUTA on the first 7,000 dollars of each worker's wages and Illinois state unemployment insurance (SUI) on a state wage base.

What is the Illinois SUI rate?

Illinois assigns a new-employer SUI rate of about 3.95% for 2025, applied to the first 13,590 dollars of each employee's wages. Established employers receive an experience rate that can be higher or lower based on their layoff history.

How does FUTA interact with state unemployment tax?

Federal FUTA is 6% on the first 7,000 dollars, but employers who pay state unemployment tax on time receive a 5.4% credit, dropping the effective FUTA rate to 0.6%. This calculator uses the 0.6% net rate, which most compliant employers pay.

Does Illinois have an employer SDI or PFML tax?

No. Unlike states such as California or New York, Illinois does not levy a state disability insurance or paid family leave payroll tax on employers, so those lines are zero in the Illinois calculation.

How accurate is this estimate?

It uses current federal rates, the 0.6% net FUTA rate and the Illinois new-employer SUI rate and wage base, so it is a close estimate. Your real cost depends on your assigned experience rate, any wage-base updates, and local taxes where applicable.

Illinois Employer Payroll Tax Calculator

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Hiring an employee in Illinois costs more than the wage on the offer letter. As the employer you owe a stack of payroll taxes on top of wages: your matching half of Social Security and Medicare (FICA), federal unemployment (FUTA), and Illinois state unemployment insurance (SUI). This calculator adds them all so you can see the true loaded cost of each hire and budget accurately.

How it works

The calculator applies each employer-side tax to the appropriate wage base:

Employer FICA. Social Security at 6.2% on wages up to the annual wage base, and Medicare at 1.45% on all wages. This matches what the employee pays.
FUTA. Federal unemployment at the net 0.6% rate (after the 5.4% state credit) on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages.
Illinois SUI. State unemployment insurance at your rate — the new-employer rate is about 3.95% for 2025 — on the first $13,590 of each employee’s wages (the Illinois taxable wage base).
No state SDI/PFML. Illinois has no employer disability or paid-leave payroll tax, so that line is zero.

The result is your total tax cost above wages, both per employee and across your headcount.

Tips and example

For an employee earning $50,000 a year: employer FICA is $3,825 ($3,100 Social Security + $725 Medicare), FUTA is $42 (0.6% of $7,000), and Illinois SUI at 3.95% of $13,590 is about $537. The total employer payroll tax is roughly $4,404, making the loaded cost about $54,404 — roughly 8.8% above wages.

Note the wage-base caps: FUTA and SUI only apply to the first chunk of wages, so as an employee’s pay rises, those taxes become a smaller share of total compensation while Medicare (uncapped) keeps applying. Your actual SUI rate is set by Illinois based on your experience rating, so enter it if you have one.