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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Network And Computer Systems Administrators Salary: Illinois vs New Jersey

Network And Computer Systems Administrators earn a median of $96,640 in Illinois and $104,850 in New Jersey. That is a nominal gap of $8,210 (-7.8%), with New Jersey 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.

$96,640
Illinois median
$96,681 after COL
$104,850
New Jersey median
$96,365 after COL
-7.8%
Nominal gap
New Jersey leads
+0.3%
Adjusted gap
Illinois leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, New Jersey pays $8,210 more per year than Illinois for network and computer systems administrators, a gap of +7.8%.

After adjusting for cost of living, the picture flips. Illinois actually offers more purchasing power, effectively paying $316 more in national-price-level terms (a +0.3% real gap). The higher nominal wage in the other location is eaten up by higher local prices.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for network and computer systems administrators in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Network And Computer Systems Administrators

Illinois

Median salary
$96,640
Mean salary
$99,180
Employment
10,830
Location quotient
0.86
Jobs per 1,000
1.8
COL-adjusted median
$96,681
Regional Price Parity
100.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Network And Computer Systems Administrators page for Illinois →

Network And Computer Systems Administrators

New Jersey

Median salary
$104,850
Mean salary
$106,960
Employment
10,300
Location quotient
1.17
Jobs per 1,000
2.4
COL-adjusted median
$96,365
Regional Price Parity
108.8%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Network And Computer Systems Administrators page for New Jersey →

Related pages

Keep digging into network and computer systems administrators 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.