Chicago vs. New York
Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 11-9032
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 26.7% higher — but after local prices, New York still leads by 16.6%.
Chicago's median $128,780 buys $124,300 at national prices (price parity 103.6); New York's $163,210 buys $145,000 (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 | 11,050 | 20,920 | +89.3% |
| 10th percentile | $79,680 | $99,730 | +25.2% |
| 25th percentile | $100,250 | $129,140 | +28.8% |
| Median | $128,780 | $163,210 | +26.7% |
| 75th percentile | $137,200 | $174,500 | +27.2% |
| 90th percentile | $171,540 | $206,640 | +20.5% |
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
- Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary in Chicago · Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 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.