Best Cities for Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliatorss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where arbitrators, mediators, and conciliatorss 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	IllinoisState	2.21	$162,410	$166,745	10%
2	New MexicoState	1.59	$110,180	$119,761	11%
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.42	$129,180	$107,471	29%
4	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	1.37	$101,990	$103,543	20%
5	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.29	$109,920	$97,447	22%
6	District of ColumbiaState	1.28	$110,300	$96,500	23%
7	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.27	$87,370	$95,800	17%
8	AlabamaState	1.17	$76,810	$88,186	15%
9	CaliforniaState	1.17	$97,680	$88,238	28%
10	MichiganState	1.09	$76,270	$82,633	18%
11	ArizonaState	1.08	$82,150	$81,417	22%
12	North CarolinaState	1.06	$75,320	$79,788	21%
13	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.05	$92,000	$78,970	30%
14	ColoradoState	1.04	$82,590	$78,359	27%
15	VirginiaState	1.02	$79,530	$76,841	24%
16	OhioState	1.01	$68,790	$76,095	18%
17	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.01	$81,860	$75,937	26%
18	KansasState	0.96	$64,970	$72,189	19%
19	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	0.95	$74,520	$72,000	26%
20	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.94	$65,590	$70,908	22%
21	PennsylvaniaState	0.93	$67,890	$69,990	23%
22	TennesseeState	0.90	$62,140	$67,913	24%
23	MontanaState	0.89	$64,980	$67,407	21%
24	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.87	$60,410	$65,663	26%
25	South CarolinaState	0.85	$58,990	$64,120	26%
26	IndianaState	0.84	$57,390	$63,414	22%
27	Rhode IslandState	0.84	$63,770	$63,453	28%
28	New YorkState	0.83	$70,800	$62,933	31%
29	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.77	$56,340	$57,963	34%
30	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.76	$55,310	$57,495	34%
31	MarylandState	0.71	$58,890	$53,929	34%
32	TexasState	0.71	$50,940	$53,285	33%
33	LouisianaState	0.68	$46,100	$51,165	27%
34	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.61	$49,110	$46,418	41%
35	OklahomaState	0.55	$36,780	$41,559	32%

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