Chicago vs. Los Angeles
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 51-1011
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 2.3% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 10.9%.
Chicago's median $76,500 buys $73,800 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $74,740 buys $65,800 (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 | 20,970 | 17,650 | −15.8% |
| 10th percentile | $47,370 | $46,820 | −1.2% |
| 25th percentile | $59,380 | $58,130 | −2.1% |
| Median | $76,500 | $74,740 | −2.3% |
| 75th percentile | $93,880 | $96,780 | +3.1% |
| 90th percentile | $104,890 | $121,830 | +16.2% |
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 Production and Operating Workers in Chicago · First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating 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.