Los Angeles vs. Seattle
Business Operations Specialists, All Other. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 13-1199
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Seattle's median is 23.2% higher — but after local prices, Seattle still leads by 25.9%.
Los Angeles's median $82,750 buys $72,900 at national prices (price parity 113.6); Seattle's $101,920 buys $91,700 (111.1).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Seattle against Los Angeles.
| Los Angeles | Seattle | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 50,470 | 38,800 | −23.1% |
| 10th percentile | $46,240 | $66,820 | +44.5% |
| 25th percentile | $63,270 | $80,440 | +27.1% |
| Median | $82,750 | $101,920 | +23.2% |
| 75th percentile | $122,030 | $133,050 | +9.0% |
| 90th percentile | $162,620 | $171,710 | +5.6% |
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
- Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Los Angeles · Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Seattle
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.