Best Cities for Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletess

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletess 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	FloridaState	1.17	$98,200	$96,749	21%
2	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.12	$90,530	$93,138	21%
3	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	1.12	$100,650	$92,765	24%
4	ArkansasState	1.10	$78,560	$91,031	13%
5	ColoradoState	1.09	$95,530	$90,636	23%
6	MichiganState	1.08	$82,440	$89,317	16%
7	CaliforniaState	1.07	$98,110	$88,627	28%
8	TexasState	1.05	$82,920	$86,736	20%
9	OhioState	1.02	$76,790	$84,945	16%
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.01	$97,750	$83,906	28%
11	TennesseeState	0.99	$75,390	$82,393	20%
12	WisconsinState	0.98	$74,990	$81,246	17%
13	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.95	$75,390	$78,368	25%
14	New HampshireState	0.93	$81,690	$77,066	23%
15	ConnecticutState	0.91	$81,470	$75,716	23%
16	New JerseyState	0.90	$81,190	$74,623	27%
17	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.89	$83,360	$73,901	29%
18	VirginiaState	0.86	$73,400	$70,918	26%
19	New YorkState	0.85	$79,620	$70,773	28%
20	WashingtonState	0.84	$74,620	$69,543	31%
21	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.79	$74,620	$65,284	35%
22	ArizonaState	0.72	$60,340	$59,802	30%
23	IllinoisState	0.70	$56,560	$58,070	28%

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