Chicago vs. New York
Financial Managers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 11-3031
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 30.9% higher — but after local prices, New York still leads by 20.5%.
Chicago's median $168,810 buys $163,000 at national prices (price parity 103.6); New York's $221,010 buys $196,300 (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 | 41,590 | 89,960 | +116.3% |
| 10th percentile | $103,490 | $133,940 | +29.4% |
| 25th percentile | $131,120 | $170,860 | +30.3% |
| Median | $168,810 | $221,010 | +30.9% |
| 75th percentile | $220,150 | $327,970 | +49.0% |
| 90th percentile | $321,200 | $371,170 | +15.6% |
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
- Financial Managers in Chicago · Financial Managers 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.