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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Network And Computer Systems Administrators Salary: Virginia vs California

Network And Computer Systems Administrators earn a median of $106,610 in Virginia and $106,620 in California. That is a nominal gap of $10 (-0.0%), with California 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.

$106,610
Virginia median
$105,446 after COL
$106,620
California median
$96,297 after COL
-0.0%
Nominal gap
California leads
+9.5%
Adjusted gap
Virginia leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, California pays $10 more per year than Virginia for network and computer systems administrators, a gap of +0.0%.

After adjusting for cost of living, the picture flips. Virginia actually offers more purchasing power, effectively paying $9,149 more in national-price-level terms (a +9.5% 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

Virginia

Median salary
$106,610
Mean salary
$113,980
Employment
13,830
Location quotient
1.65
Jobs per 1,000
3.4
COL-adjusted median
$105,446
Regional Price Parity
101.1%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Network And Computer Systems Administrators page for Virginia →

Network And Computer Systems Administrators

California

Median salary
$106,620
Mean salary
$114,500
Employment
28,730
Location quotient
0.77
Jobs per 1,000
1.6
COL-adjusted median
$96,297
Regional Price Parity
110.7%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Network And Computer Systems Administrators page for California →

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.