Chicago vs. Houston
Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 25-2052
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Chicago's median is 18.3% higher — but after local prices, Chicago still leads by 14.2%.
Chicago's median $79,690 buys $76,900 at national prices (price parity 103.6); Houston's $65,080 buys $66,000 (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 | 11,210 | 12,680 | +13.1% |
| 10th percentile | $53,010 | $51,230 | −3.4% |
| 25th percentile | $62,300 | $62,090 | −0.3% |
| Median | $79,690 | $65,080 | −18.3% |
| 75th percentile | $100,640 | $71,990 | −28.5% |
| 90th percentile | $104,490 | $75,120 | −28.1% |
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
- Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Chicago · Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School 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.