Kansas City vs. Los Angeles
Cooks, Fast Food. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 35-2011
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 26.0% higher — but after local prices, Los Angeles still leads by 2.6%.
Kansas City's median $30,170 buys $32,600 at national prices (price parity 92.5); Los Angeles's $38,000 buys $33,500 (113.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Los Angeles against Kansas City.
| Kansas City | Los Angeles | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 13,850 | 48,440 | +249.7% |
| 10th percentile | $29,180 | $35,760 | +22.5% |
| 25th percentile | $29,850 | $37,080 | +24.2% |
| Median | $30,170 | $38,000 | +26.0% |
| 75th percentile | $31,700 | $42,540 | +34.2% |
| 90th percentile | $34,800 | $45,550 | +30.9% |
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
- Cooks, Fast Food in Kansas City · Cooks, Fast Food 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.