Comparing the Numbers

Boston and Chicago exist more than a 1,000 miles apart, thereby harboring strikingly different cultures, populations, and economies. After diving into statistical data from DataUSA and other sources that put the communities side-by-side, it’s easy to point out exactly where the contrast between the cities lies — and what qualities remain surprisingly similar.

POPULATION & SIZE

The most immediate difference between the two cities is the number of people they house. At 2.71 million people in 2018, Chicago is home to almost four times as many residents as Boston, which held just under 700,000 individuals that year. This can be partially attributed to the size of both locations. According to TimeOut, Chicago encompasses 234 square miles in Illinois, while Boston fills only 89 square miles in Massachusetts. Additionally, almost half of Boston’s area is water from the Charles River and the Boston Harbor. That means Boston’s land area is about a fifth of Chicago’s. Therefore, it’s fair to assume the density of people per square mile of the two cities is more similar than the baseline population numbers suggest.

Another important point is the continual change in the cities’ population. Due to a confluence of factors, Chicago’s population declined slightly by 0.3% in 2018, while Boston’s rose by 1.9%.

Sergey Gabdurakhmanov / DataUSA

Robbie Shade / DataUSA

MONEY

The median household incomes of both cities were around $14,000 apart in 2018. Boston families brought in close to $72,000, and Chicago homes raked in only $57,000. That puts the cities on opposite sides of the country’s media income, which is $66,000. This statistic is particularly relevant because the median age of the two cities is so similar (34.9 in Chicago and 32.1 in Boston), as is the poverty rate (right around 20% in both locales). Consequently, these numbers bring into question the specific industries and jobs that each city houses and how those contribute the amount of money they produce annually. Managerial position in Boston, for example, bring in between $10,000 and $20,000 more than those in Chicago, according to data from the Census Bureau. The second-most common profession in Massachusetts is also a registered nurse — a job that has a far higher salary than elementary/middle school teachers, the second-most common job in Illinois.

Average salary in 5 most common jobs in IL / DataUSA

Average salary in 5 most common jobs in MA / DataUSA