I intend on doing some IT consulting for small businesses in DuPage
County, Illinois.  All IT areas, networking, disaster
recovery, system optimization, server upgrades, software installation,
etc.  I would like to know the average rate set in this geographic
area and any pertinent factors I should consider when setting my rate.
 I have over 20 years experience and previously earned in the 90k area
of salary.  Thank you.

Seems the easiest thing to do would be to just start calling your
competitors and ask them what they charge, perhaps pretending to be a
potential client.  Five calls should give you a rough idea about the
market value in your area.

In the UK the institute of management consultants stated that the
average consulting fee for 2003-2004 was £1200 per day. At a rough
calc this equated to about $1750 per day. I certainly have IT friends
who are charing this sort of fee in the UK for 6 monthly contracts.
My own personal experience, outside of IT is that daily fees are much
lower. The best measure is are people willing to pay for you? You may
need to start cheaper and put your prices up as you build clientel.

There's information that might help you do the calculations at <a
href="http://www.consultantjournal.com/blog/setting-consulting-fee-rates">Setting
consulting fee rates</a>.

Oops. Let's try that again:
http://www.consultantjournal.com/blog/setting-consulting-fee-rates