Atlanta vs. Chicago
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 53-7051
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 7.2% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 3.6%.
Atlanta's median $44,710 buys $44,700 at national prices (price parity 100.1); Chicago's $47,950 buys $46,300 (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 | 28,750 | 22,320 | −22.4% |
| 10th percentile | $36,740 | $38,200 | +4.0% |
| 25th percentile | $39,630 | $43,100 | +8.8% |
| Median | $44,710 | $47,950 | +7.2% |
| 75th percentile | $48,730 | $57,660 | +18.3% |
| 90th percentile | $63,620 | $63,520 | −0.2% |
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
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Atlanta · Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators 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.