Chicago vs. Los Angeles
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 41-4012
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 1.1% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 9.8%.
Chicago's median $75,350 buys $72,700 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Los Angeles's $74,490 buys $65,600 (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 | 38,490 | 54,950 | +42.8% |
| 10th percentile | $46,240 | $39,520 | −14.5% |
| 25th percentile | $58,550 | $51,820 | −11.5% |
| Median | $75,350 | $74,490 | −1.1% |
| 75th percentile | $101,640 | $101,020 | −0.6% |
| 90th percentile | $137,000 | $135,830 | −0.9% |
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, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Chicago · Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products 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.