Chicago vs. Dallas
Cooks, Restaurant. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 35-2014
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 6.3% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 5.8%.
Chicago's median $38,930 buys $37,600 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Dallas's $36,490 buys $35,400 (103.1).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Dallas against Chicago.
| Chicago | Dallas | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 41,690 | 34,430 | −17.4% |
| 10th percentile | $32,150 | $28,020 | −12.8% |
| 25th percentile | $36,300 | $30,150 | −16.9% |
| Median | $38,930 | $36,490 | −6.3% |
| 75th percentile | $45,510 | $38,920 | −14.5% |
| 90th percentile | $46,620 | $45,280 | −2.9% |
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, Restaurant in Chicago · Cooks, Restaurant in Dallas
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.