Chicago vs. Miami
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 5.2% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 13.9%.
Chicago's median $38,930 buys $37,600 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Miami's $36,920 buys $32,300 (114.2).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Miami against Chicago.
| Chicago | Miami | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 41,690 | 37,210 | −10.7% |
| 10th percentile | $32,150 | $29,090 | −9.5% |
| 25th percentile | $36,300 | $30,780 | −15.2% |
| Median | $38,930 | $36,920 | −5.2% |
| 75th percentile | $45,510 | $44,060 | −3.2% |
| 90th percentile | $46,620 | $47,160 | +1.2% |
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
- Cooks, Restaurant in Chicago · Cooks, Restaurant in Miami
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.