Houston 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
Houston's median is 0.8% higher — but after local prices, Houston still leads by 13.8%.
Houston's median $75,330 buys $76,400 at national prices (price parity 98.6); 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 Houston.
| Houston | Los Angeles | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 15,270 | 17,650 | +15.6% |
| 10th percentile | $46,060 | $46,820 | +1.7% |
| 25th percentile | $57,490 | $58,130 | +1.1% |
| Median | $75,330 | $74,740 | −0.8% |
| 75th percentile | $97,660 | $96,780 | −0.9% |
| 90th percentile | $128,360 | $121,830 | −5.1% |
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
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Houston · 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.