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What does a Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers salary really buy you in Illinois?
Illinois is near the US average cost of livingData: BLS OEWS 2025 + BEA Regional Price Parities 2022 • Updated 2026-05-19
Illinois's Regional Price Parity (RPP) is 101.3, meaning prices are 1.3% higher the national average. A Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers earning $293,490 in Illinois has the equivalent purchasing power of $289,723 in an average-cost US state.
Every dollar goes further in low-cost states. Here is how each salary percentile compares after adjusting for Illinois's cost of living.
| Percentile | Nominal Salary | COL-Adjusted | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th Percentile (P10) | $166,620 | $164,481 | $-2,138 |
| 25th Percentile (P25) | $204,790 | $202,161 | $-2,628 |
| Median (P50) | $293,490 | $289,723 | $-3,766 |
| 75th Percentile (P75) | $420,280 | $414,886 | $-5,393 |
| 90th Percentile (P90) | $421,610 | $416,199 | $-5,410 |
Illinois's cost of living is close to the national average, so $293,490 keeps most of its value at $289,723 in real terms. Location choice here is more about career opportunities than cost arbitrage.
With an RPP of 101.3, Illinois is within a few percent of the national cost-of-living baseline. Salary adjustment for Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers is therefore minor — what you earn is close to what you'd keep in real purchasing power.
After adjusting for Illinois's cost of living, $293,490 nominal nets out to $289,724 in real purchasing power — a small 1.3% loss. The state's cost profile is close enough to average that COL alone shouldn't drive location decisions for this Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers.
Ranked on COL-adjusted median pay for Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers, Illinois places #7 of 37 states — top quartile. Either nominal wages run high, cost of living runs low, or both.
Where does Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers salary stretch the furthest? Top 10 states ranked by COL-adjusted median salary.
Illinois ranks #7 out of 37 states for Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers after cost-of-living adjustment.
How much do you actually take home? See Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers take-home pay in Illinois after taxes →
A Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers in Illinois earns a median salary of $293,490 per year. After adjusting for Illinois's cost of living (RPP=101.3), the real purchasing power is $289,723 — a -1.3% difference.
Illinois's cost of living is 1.3% higher than the national average according to the BEA Regional Price Parities (2022). The RPP index for Illinois is 101.3 (US average = 100).
Regional Price Parities (RPPs) are price indexes published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that measure differences in price levels across states. They are expressed as a percentage of the national average (US = 100). Higher RPP means higher cost of living.
The adjusted salary is calculated as: Nominal Salary x (100 / RPP). For a Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers in Illinois: $293,490 x (100 / 101.3) = $289,723. This represents what the salary would be worth in a state with average living costs.
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