Chicago vs. Houston
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 53-3032
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 8.8% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 4.2%.
Chicago's median $62,300 buys $60,100 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Houston's $56,840 buys $57,600 (98.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Houston against Chicago.
| Chicago | Houston | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 62,210 | 49,750 | −20.0% |
| 10th percentile | $41,300 | $38,320 | −7.2% |
| 25th percentile | $50,580 | $46,830 | −7.4% |
| Median | $62,300 | $56,840 | −8.8% |
| 75th percentile | $77,660 | $64,410 | −17.1% |
| 90th percentile | $88,230 | $79,490 | −9.9% |
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
- Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Chicago · Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Houston
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.