Chicago vs. New York
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
New York's median is 12.4% higher — but after local prices, New York still leads by 3.4%.
Chicago's median $38,930 buys $37,600 at national prices (price parity 103.6); New York's $43,740 buys $38,900 (112.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is New York against Chicago.
| Chicago | New York | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 41,690 | 69,250 | +66.1% |
| 10th percentile | $32,150 | $33,040 | +2.8% |
| 25th percentile | $36,300 | $36,740 | +1.2% |
| Median | $38,930 | $43,740 | +12.4% |
| 75th percentile | $45,510 | $47,310 | +4.0% |
| 90th percentile | $46,620 | $54,240 | +16.3% |
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 New York
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.