Chicago vs. New York
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 41-3091
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
New York's median is 32.6% higher — but after local prices, New York still leads by 22.0%.
Chicago's median $70,710 buys $68,300 at national prices (price parity 103.6); New York's $93,750 buys $83,300 (112.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is New York against Chicago.
| Chicago | New York | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 55,730 | 91,680 | +64.5% |
| 10th percentile | $39,570 | $46,370 | +17.2% |
| 25th percentile | $49,540 | $62,290 | +25.7% |
| Median | $70,710 | $93,750 | +32.6% |
| 75th percentile | $100,790 | $134,000 | +32.9% |
| 90th percentile | $154,540 | $176,300 | +14.1% |
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
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel in Chicago · Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel 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.