Chicago vs. Los Angeles
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 49-9071
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 2.6% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 11.1%.
Chicago's median $58,020 buys $56,000 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $56,520 buys $49,800 (113.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Los Angeles against Chicago.
| Chicago | Los Angeles | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 45,710 | 47,890 | +4.8% |
| 10th percentile | $36,870 | $38,510 | +4.4% |
| 25th percentile | $45,070 | $45,950 | +2.0% |
| Median | $58,020 | $56,520 | −2.6% |
| 75th percentile | $72,100 | $66,610 | −7.6% |
| 90th percentile | $82,320 | $79,360 | −3.6% |
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
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Chicago · Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Los Angeles
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.