Best Cities for Athletes and Sports Competitorss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where athletes and sports competitorss 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	New JerseyState	3.50	$253,870	$233,336	8%
2	MissouriState	2.92	$172,700	$194,921	7%
3	UtahState	1.84	$122,800	$122,555	15%
4	NevadaState	1.79	$119,780	$119,541	15%
5	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.46	$94,530	$97,655	21%
6	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.27	$78,790	$84,903	20%
7	TexasState	1.26	$80,510	$84,215	21%
8	GeorgiaState	1.24	$77,530	$83,009	22%
9	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	1.17	$76,860	$78,030	27%
10	FloridaState	1.16	$78,610	$77,448	26%
11	CaliforniaState	1.07	$79,040	$71,400	34%
12	KentuckyState	1.07	$63,020	$71,209	18%
13	KansasState	1.06	$63,630	$70,700	20%
14	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.99	$61,160	$66,119	23%
15	LouisianaState	0.93	$55,890	$62,031	23%
16	VirginiaState	0.89	$61,500	$59,420	31%
17	PennsylvaniaState	0.88	$57,100	$58,866	27%
18	OklahomaState	0.75	$44,110	$49,842	26%
19	ArizonaState	0.74	$50,090	$49,643	36%
20	South CarolinaState	0.74	$45,720	$49,696	33%
21	MarylandState	0.66	$48,200	$44,139	42%
22	OhioState	0.65	$39,040	$43,186	32%
23	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.64	$45,230	$42,750	45%
24	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	0.37	$24,890	$25,015	71%

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