Best Cities for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officerss get the most value from their salary after accounting for cost of living. A score above 1.00 means better than national average.

How we calculate this: City Score = (Local Salary ÷ National Median) ÷ (Local Cost ÷ National Avg Cost). A score of 1.20 means 20% better purchasing power than average.

#	Location	Score	Raw Salary	Adjusted Salary	Rent/Income
1	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.50	$164,530	$177,295	9%
2	IndianaState	1.36	$145,290	$160,541	9%
3	District of ColumbiaState	1.34	$181,060	$158,408	14%
4	AlabamaState	1.31	$134,810	$154,776	9%
5	MissouriState	1.24	$129,670	$146,354	10%
6	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.24	$140,050	$146,190	13%
7	WisconsinState	1.22	$132,250	$143,283	10%
8	KansasState	1.19	$126,570	$140,633	10%
9	LouisianaState	1.19	$126,440	$140,333	10%
10	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.19	$127,860	$140,197	11%
11	OklahomaState	1.18	$122,930	$138,904	9%
12	IowaState	1.17	$123,500	$138,453	9%
13	MichiganState	1.17	$127,420	$138,050	11%
14	North CarolinaState	1.17	$129,960	$137,669	12%
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.14	$151,990	$134,743	16%
16	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.10	$126,010	$129,640	15%
17	MinnesotaState	1.09	$126,360	$128,939	12%
18	NebraskaState	1.09	$117,060	$127,934	11%
19	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.08	$126,360	$126,995	14%
20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.05	$130,940	$123,762	15%
21	ArizonaState	1.04	$123,240	$122,141	15%
22	MarylandState	1.04	$133,460	$122,216	15%
23	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.03	$111,970	$121,049	13%
24	New JerseyState	1.00	$128,320	$117,941	17%
25	TennesseeState	1.00	$107,740	$117,749	14%
26	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	1.00	$115,920	$117,685	18%
27	ColoradoState	0.98	$121,410	$115,190	18%
28	FloridaState	0.97	$115,920	$114,207	18%
29	WashingtonState	0.97	$122,390	$114,063	19%
30	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.97	$130,270	$113,972	20%
31	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.95	$107,620	$111,871	17%
32	New YorkState	0.93	$123,170	$109,484	18%
33	IllinoisState	0.91	$104,990	$107,793	15%
34	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.91	$115,960	$106,876	21%
35	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.91	$98,900	$107,500	16%
36	MassachusettsState	0.89	$113,750	$104,839	24%
37	TexasState	0.89	$100,400	$105,021	17%
38	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.89	$113,350	$105,148	19%
39	South CarolinaState	0.88	$94,880	$103,130	16%
40	UtahState	0.88	$103,380	$103,174	17%
41	PennsylvaniaState	0.86	$98,010	$101,041	16%
42	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.85	$113,750	$100,220	27%
43	HawaiiState	0.82	$106,480	$96,800	27%
44	West VirginiaState	0.79	$78,870	$93,670	13%
45	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	0.78	$95,350	$92,126	20%
46	ConnecticutState	0.75	$95,310	$88,578	20%
47	New MexicoState	0.75	$80,800	$87,826	16%
48	MontanaState	0.74	$83,910	$87,044	16%
49	NevadaState	0.74	$87,240	$87,066	20%
50	OhioState	0.74	$79,000	$87,389	16%
51	OregonState	0.73	$89,220	$86,621	21%
52	Columbus, OHMetro	0.70	$77,330	$82,706	20%
53	MississippiState	0.66	$66,310	$78,196	16%
54	MaineState	0.65	$75,960	$76,112	20%
55	ArkansasState	0.63	$63,660	$73,766	17%
56	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.63	$72,440	$74,835	27%
57	GeorgiaState	0.62	$67,990	$72,794	25%
58	IdahoState	0.57	$65,050	$67,409	22%
59	DelawareState	0.48	$56,830	$56,267	29%

Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).