Chicago vs. Dallas
Industrial Engineers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 17-2112
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Dallas's median is 3.8% higher — but after local prices, Dallas still leads by 4.3%.
Chicago's median $101,760 buys $98,200 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Dallas's $105,640 buys $102,500 (103.1).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Dallas against Chicago.
| Chicago | Dallas | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 12,750 | 10,680 | −16.2% |
| 10th percentile | $74,420 | $77,640 | +4.3% |
| 25th percentile | $82,260 | $93,020 | +13.1% |
| Median | $101,760 | $105,640 | +3.8% |
| 75th percentile | $126,580 | $132,830 | +4.9% |
| 90th percentile | $155,480 | $166,050 | +6.8% |
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
- Industrial Engineers in Chicago · Industrial Engineers in Dallas
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.