Side by side

Chicago vs Houston

Chicago pays more: a median of $87,000 against $83,500. Demand is comparable on both sides.

Comparison

Side by side

MeasureChicagoHoustonGap
Open postings49,12847,771+1,357
Posted this week1,2881,696
Median salary$87,000$83,500+$3.5k
25th percentile$68.5k$66k
75th percentile$108k$104k
Salary disclosed8.7%3.7%
Remote share9.1%4.2%+4.9pp
Median age of posting41d45d
Open over 60 days46.2%34.2%
Visa sponsorship10.4%12.8%
Pay

Pay distribution

Chicago

$39k$151k

Houston

$38k$144k
Freshness

How old the listings are

Chicago

just posted41d median90d+

Houston

just posted45d median90d+
Demand

What each side asks for

Chicago — technologies

Go
72.0%
Azure
65.8%
GCP
59.6%
HubSpot
53.4%
Terraform
47.2%
Kotlin
41.0%
Java
34.8%

Houston — technologies

Kubernetes
72.0%
TypeScript
65.8%
Spark
59.6%
JavaScript
53.4%
dbt
47.2%
Azure
41.0%
Tableau
34.8%

Chicago — employers

Pinewood Education
9.4%
Brightline Retail
8.7%
Northwind Systems
8.0%
Lakeshore Hospitality
7.2%
Halcyon Energy
6.5%
Beacon Robotics
5.8%
Ironbark Manufacturing
5.1%

Houston — employers

Northwind Systems
9.4%
Ironbark Manufacturing
8.7%
Solstice Biotech
8.0%
Umbra Security
7.2%
Aperture Labs
6.5%
Rivergate Media
5.8%
Kestrel Health
5.1%

Track this slice

A weekly note when openings, pay or freshness move for Chicago vs Houston.

More comparisons

Other United States city comparisons

Both sides are counted the same way on the same day, so the gap is comparable even where the absolute numbers move. Salary figures use only postings that publish a range — the disclosure rate is in the table because a median over 20% of a cohort is a weaker number than one over 70%.