Chicago vs. Houston
Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 43-5071
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 12.9% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 8.5%.
Chicago's median $47,740 buys $46,100 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Houston's $41,590 buys $42,200 (98.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Houston against Chicago.
| Chicago | Houston | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 26,030 | 22,670 | −12.9% |
| 10th percentile | $37,150 | $31,200 | −16.0% |
| 25th percentile | $40,710 | $36,360 | −10.7% |
| Median | $47,740 | $41,590 | −12.9% |
| 75th percentile | $57,790 | $47,660 | −17.5% |
| 90th percentile | $64,680 | $58,890 | −9.0% |
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
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks in Chicago · Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks in Houston
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.