How much do Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers make in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Percentile spread

For Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers, the published 10th percentile is $179,840 and the 90th percentile is $429,040. The difference is $249,200, which is 84.9% of the median. Ten percent of measured wages fall below the 10th percentile and ten percent fall above the 90th. How to read a percentile.

The middle half of the distribution, from the 25th percentile at $205,480 to the 75th at $420,280, covers $214,800.

The mean annual wage is $316,610, which sits above the median of $293,490. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

Hourly wages are not published because BLS reports this occupation on an annual basis. Hourly and annual wages.

National and state comparison

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN median is 26.4% higher than the national median of $232,140 for Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers. In 2024 national prices the local median is $283,305, which is 22% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is about the same as the Illinois median of $293,490.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN covers more than one state. The state comparison uses Illinois, the primary state on the BLS area record.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN is 103.595, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $293,490 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers at $283,305 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

One other metropolitan area within 200 miles publishes a annual median for Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN ranks 1st of 2 on that median, counting itself. Distance is the great-circle mileage between Census Bureau internal points (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer Files, Core Based Statistical Areas, internal points (INTPTLAT, INTPTLONG).).

• Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN is 163 miles away, with a median of $171,260. That median is 41.6% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $178,963, against $283,305 here.

Employment share

Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers accounts for 0.14% of wage-and-salary employment in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN (6,360 of 4,513,280). Nationally the occupation is 0.07% of employment (103,560 of 155,495,730). The local share is 2.12 times the national share. That ratio is the location quotient computed from these May 2025 employment counts. It is not copied from the location-quotient column in the BLS bulk file.