2026 Edition · An annual reference on what work pays

Houston 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
40k60k80k HOUSTON $46,710 LOS ANGELES $56,520
Table 1 — Adjusted

Los Angeles's median is 21.0% higher — but after local prices, Los Angeles still leads by 5.1%.

Houston's median $46,710 buys $47,400 at national prices (price parity 98.6); 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 Houston.

HoustonLos AngelesΔ
Employment32,05047,890+49.4%
10th percentile$31,620$38,510+21.8%
25th percentile$38,580$45,950+19.1%
Median$46,710$56,520+21.0%
75th percentile$60,460$66,610+10.2%
90th percentile$76,210$79,360+4.1%
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 Houston · 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.