Chicago vs. Los Angeles
Accountants and Auditors. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 13-2011
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Los Angeles's median is 14.6% higher — but after local prices, Los Angeles still leads by 4.5%.
Chicago's median $82,360 buys $79,500 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $94,360 buys $83,100 (113.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Los Angeles against Chicago.
| Chicago | Los Angeles | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 41,360 | 70,640 | +70.8% |
| 10th percentile | $59,530 | $60,310 | +1.3% |
| 25th percentile | $72,280 | $74,060 | +2.5% |
| Median | $82,360 | $94,360 | +14.6% |
| 75th percentile | $103,120 | $122,290 | +18.6% |
| 90th percentile | $134,100 | $154,630 | +15.3% |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Price parity
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Full pages
- Accountants and Auditors in Chicago · Accountants and Auditors in Los Angeles
Percentiles are reported exactly as released. Derived (price-adjusted) figures round to the nearest hundred. We take no payment for how any figure is presented.