Chicago vs. Washington
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 25-2022
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 0.8% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 5.7%.
Chicago's median $78,000 buys $75,300 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Washington's $77,350 buys $71,000 (108.9).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Washington against Chicago.
| Chicago | Washington | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 17,300 | 14,890 | −13.9% |
| 10th percentile | $50,530 | $53,210 | +5.3% |
| 25th percentile | $61,630 | $61,980 | +0.6% |
| Median | $78,000 | $77,350 | −0.8% |
| 75th percentile | $100,610 | $99,370 | −1.2% |
| 90th percentile | $120,620 | $119,810 | −0.7% |
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
- Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Chicago · Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Washington
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.