Chicago vs. Los Angeles
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 21-1012
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 22.0% higher — but after local prices, Los Angeles still leads by 11.3%.
Chicago's median $64,730 buys $62,500 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $79,000 buys $69,600 (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 | 9,790 | 17,110 | +74.8% |
| 10th percentile | $47,200 | $49,690 | +5.3% |
| 25th percentile | $52,200 | $60,540 | +16.0% |
| Median | $64,730 | $79,000 | +22.0% |
| 75th percentile | $84,760 | $109,100 | +28.7% |
| 90th percentile | $110,580 | $135,030 | +22.1% |
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
- Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors in Chicago · Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors 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.