Home / Select Cities  /  2024 Comparing Houston, TX vs. Chicago, IL

2024 Compare Cities Economy:
Houston, TX vs Chicago, IL

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Highlights
- Household income in Chicago, is 17% more than it is in Houston and is 5% below the National Average.
- Houston unemployment rate is 8.0%.
- Chicago unemployment rate is 9.0%.

Economy
 Houston, TXChicago, ILUnited States
 Unemployment Rate8.0%9.0%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth3.2%-0.2%1.6%
 Future Job Growth30.9%25.7%33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.3%10.3%6.2%
 Income Taxes0.0%5.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$35,578$41,821$37,638
 Household Income$56,019$65,781$69,021
 Family Median Income$63,946$79,434$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Houston, TXChicago, ILUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K11.9%13.1%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K4.6%4.2%3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K10.1%8.6%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K9.6%7.6%8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K8.7%6.7%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K7.9%6.5%7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K9.3%8.5%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K10.7%11.7%12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K12.1%14.7%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K5.7%7.7%7.8%
 Income greater than 200K9.2%10.9%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Houston, TXChicago, ILUnited States
 Management, business, finance15.7%19.5%16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science7.1%6.6%6.5%
 Community, social services1.2%2.1%1.8%
 Legal1.6%2.2%1.2%
 Education, library5.4%6.3%6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment1.7%3.0%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology5.1%5.7%6.2%
 Healthcare support2.8%3.4%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.8%3.0%2.1%
 Food preparation, serving5.9%5.4%5.4%
 Building maintenance5.1%3.4%3.6%
 Personal care2.3%2.9%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.6%19.3%20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry0.1%0.1%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair11.9%4.9%8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving12.6%12.1%13.1%

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Reviews for Houston    371 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

I moved to Houston from the San Francisco Bay area in 1991 after college but I have always had family here. Houston is not what you think of when you think of Texas  More

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Over 2 years ago

There's definitely lots of jobs/economic opportunity. It's quite racially diverse if that's your thing. Houston has awful urban sprawl. Expect awful traffic. Hot as hell  More

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Over 2 years ago

There's definitely lots of jobs/economic opportunity. It's quite racially diverse if that's your thing. Houston has awful urban sprawl. Expect awful traffic. Hot as hell  More

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Reviews for Chicago    271 Reviews

I've lived in Chicago city and later moved to suburbs when family size increased. Absolutely love this city. This is the cleanest and most beautiful among the major  More

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Chicago is probably the best value in a major city that you can find and my personal favorite city. It will become increasingly important as climate change makes the  More

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I've live on north side and south side, UIC medical center. Don't move here go to the north side. No good amenities, if you get bored with one there is no other choices.  More

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ZIPS IN HOUSTON, TEXAS
77449, 77084, 77429, 77379, 77036, 77433, 77095, 77072, 77077, 77088, 100 total
ZIPS IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
60629, 60618, 60632, 60639, 60623, 60647, 60617, 60625, 60608, 60634, 56 total

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