Los Angeles vs. New York
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 35-3041
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 2.0% higher — but after local prices, New York still leads by 2.9%.
Los Angeles's median $38,350 buys $33,800 at national prices (price parity 113.6); New York's $39,120 buys $34,800 (112.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is New York against Los Angeles.
| Los Angeles | New York | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 11,850 | 19,450 | +64.1% |
| 10th percentile | $35,120 | $33,250 | −5.3% |
| 25th percentile | $36,490 | $36,480 | −0.0% |
| Median | $38,350 | $39,120 | +2.0% |
| 75th percentile | $46,440 | $47,930 | +3.2% |
| 90th percentile | $56,160 | $52,080 | −7.3% |
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
- Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Los Angeles · Food Servers, Nonrestaurant 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.