Chicago vs. Los Angeles
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
Los Angeles's median is 14.2% higher — but after local prices, Los Angeles still leads by 4.2%.
Chicago's median $38,930 buys $37,600 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $44,460 buys $39,100 (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 | 41,690 | 54,320 | +30.3% |
| 10th percentile | $32,150 | $37,230 | +15.8% |
| 25th percentile | $36,300 | $38,290 | +5.5% |
| Median | $38,930 | $44,460 | +14.2% |
| 75th percentile | $45,510 | $47,330 | +4.0% |
| 90th percentile | $46,620 | $55,010 | +18.0% |
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 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.