Chicago vs. New York
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 2.1% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 9.9%.
Chicago's median $47,950 buys $46,300 at national prices (price parity 103.6); New York's $46,930 buys $41,700 (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 | 22,320 | 24,720 | +10.8% |
| 10th percentile | $38,200 | $37,190 | −2.6% |
| 25th percentile | $43,100 | $42,730 | −0.9% |
| Median | $47,950 | $46,930 | −2.1% |
| 75th percentile | $57,660 | $60,160 | +4.3% |
| 90th percentile | $63,520 | $75,980 | +19.6% |
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 Chicago · Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators 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.