Chicago vs. Los Angeles
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 35-1012
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 10.1% higher — but at national prices the two medians buy almost exactly the same.
Chicago's median $42,650 buys $41,200 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $46,970 buys $41,400 (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 | 30,180 | 41,640 | +38.0% |
| 10th percentile | $32,150 | $39,340 | +22.4% |
| 25th percentile | $36,880 | $44,880 | +21.7% |
| Median | $42,650 | $46,970 | +10.1% |
| 75th percentile | $57,130 | $60,960 | +6.7% |
| 90th percentile | $68,000 | $75,180 | +10.6% |
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
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Chicago · First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers 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.