Chicago vs. Houston
Civil Engineers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 17-2051
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Houston's median is 0.8% higher — but after local prices, Houston still leads by 5.9%.
Chicago's median $100,160 buys $96,700 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Houston's $100,950 buys $102,400 (98.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Houston against Chicago.
| Chicago | Houston | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 9,760 | 12,140 | +24.4% |
| 10th percentile | $74,130 | $67,250 | −9.3% |
| 25th percentile | $80,020 | $80,010 | −0.0% |
| Median | $100,160 | $100,950 | +0.8% |
| 75th percentile | $126,570 | $130,990 | +3.5% |
| 90th percentile | $159,940 | $168,240 | +5.2% |
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
- Civil Engineers in Chicago · Civil Engineers in Houston
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.