Los Angeles vs. New York
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 33-3051
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Los Angeles's median is 13.5% higher — but after local prices, Los Angeles still leads by 12.7%.
Los Angeles's median $121,980 buys $107,400 at national prices (price parity 113.6); New York's $105,540 buys $93,800 (112.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is New York against Los Angeles.
| Los Angeles | New York | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 24,720 | 54,270 | +119.5% |
| 10th percentile | $78,870 | $56,390 | −28.5% |
| 25th percentile | $98,180 | $57,180 | −41.8% |
| Median | $121,980 | $105,540 | −13.5% |
| 75th percentile | $126,080 | $107,690 | −14.6% |
| 90th percentile | $127,880 | $131,690 | +3.0% |
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
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Los Angeles · Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers 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.