Chicago vs. New York
General and Operations Managers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 11-1021
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 43.5% higher — but after local prices, New York still leads by 32.1%.
Chicago's median $109,390 buys $105,600 at national prices (price parity 103.6); New York's $157,000 buys $139,500 (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 | 122,930 | 177,850 | +44.7% |
| 10th percentile | $58,000 | $71,030 | +22.5% |
| 25th percentile | $76,900 | $100,040 | +30.1% |
| Median | $109,390 | $157,000 | +43.5% |
| 75th percentile | $175,170 | $226,350 | +29.2% |
| 90th percentile | $298,090 | $364,770 | +22.4% |
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
- General and Operations Managers in Chicago · General and Operations 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.