Chicago vs. Los Angeles
Sales Managers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 11-2022
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 16.6% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 23.9%.
Chicago's median $158,690 buys $153,200 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $132,330 buys $116,500 (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 | 25,390 | 37,790 | +48.8% |
| 10th percentile | $80,060 | $64,780 | −19.1% |
| 25th percentile | $110,000 | $92,540 | −15.9% |
| Median | $158,690 | $132,330 | −16.6% |
| 75th percentile | $212,000 | $197,620 | −6.8% |
| 90th percentile | $288,430 | $286,390 | −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
- Sales Managers in Chicago · Sales Managers 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.