Boston vs. Chicago
Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 25-9045
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
Boston's median is 7.5% higher — but after local prices, Boston still leads by 3.4%.
Boston's median $40,930 buys $37,800 at national prices (price parity 108.3); Chicago's $37,840 buys $36,500 (103.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Chicago against Boston.
| Boston | Chicago | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 26,350 | 46,770 | +77.5% |
| 10th percentile | $31,200 | $31,200 | +0.0% |
| 25th percentile | $34,470 | $32,780 | −4.9% |
| Median | $40,930 | $37,840 | −7.5% |
| 75th percentile | $49,750 | $46,210 | −7.1% |
| 90th percentile | $60,730 | $48,100 | −20.8% |
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
- Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Boston · Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Chicago
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.