Atlanta vs. Chicago
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 35-9031
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 11.1% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 7.3%.
Atlanta's median $28,560 buys $28,500 at national prices (price parity 100.1); Chicago's $31,720 buys $30,600 (103.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Chicago against Atlanta.
| Atlanta | Chicago | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 11,940 | 13,390 | +12.1% |
| 10th percentile | $20,000 | $31,200 | +56.0% |
| 25th percentile | $21,930 | $31,200 | +42.3% |
| Median | $28,560 | $31,720 | +11.1% |
| 75th percentile | $33,700 | $36,190 | +7.4% |
| 90th percentile | $35,020 | $45,260 | +29.2% |
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
- Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Atlanta · Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Chicago
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.