Home / Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary / Best Cities Best Cities for Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondarys Cities ranked by purchasing power — where atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondarys 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 1.46 $175,120 $150,318 16% 2 Oregon State 1.21 $128,140 $124,408 15% 3 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 1.21 $128,690 $124,338 15% 4 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 1.20 $123,480 $124,101 14% 5 New Hampshire State 1.19 $130,230 $122,858 15% 6 New Jersey State 1.18 $131,930 $121,259 16% 7 California State 1.17 $133,230 $120,352 20% 8 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 1.15 $128,140 $118,868 17% 9 Oklahoma State 1.14 $104,270 $117,819 11% 10 New Mexico State 1.13 $106,990 $116,293 12% 11 Wisconsin State 1.13 $107,370 $116,327 12% 12 Missouri State 1.12 $102,200 $115,350 12% 13 Virginia State 1.12 $119,940 $115,884 16% 14 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro 1.12 $132,070 $115,547 20% 15 Connecticut State 1.11 $123,770 $115,028 15% 16 Kansas State 1.10 $101,750 $113,056 12% 17 Michigan State 1.10 $104,780 $113,521 13% 18 Indiana State 1.07 $99,970 $110,464 13% 19 Texas State 1.07 $105,080 $109,916 16% 20 Arizona State 1.06 $110,600 $109,613 16% 21 Iowa State 1.06 $97,660 $109,484 12% 22 North Carolina State 1.06 $102,980 $109,089 15% 23 Pennsylvania State 1.06 $105,650 $108,918 15% 24 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 1.06 $124,440 $109,639 25% 25 Kentucky State 1.05 $95,830 $108,282 12% 26 Columbus, OH Metro 1.05 $101,380 $108,428 15% 27 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro 1.05 $105,700 $108,745 18% 28 Wyoming State 1.04 $100,240 $107,785 12% 29 North Dakota State 1.03 $98,000 $105,832 12% 30 Minnesota State 1.02 $102,900 $105,000 15% 31 Nevada State 1.02 $105,860 $105,649 16% 32 Ohio State 1.02 $94,890 $104,967 13% 33 Georgia State 0.98 $94,790 $101,488 18% 34 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro 0.98 $107,450 $101,560 19% 35 Massachusetts State 0.97 $108,930 $100,396 25% 36 Maryland State 0.96 $107,700 $98,626 19% 37 Utah State 0.94 $97,240 $97,046 18% 38 West Virginia State 0.94 $81,850 $97,209 12% 39 Maine State 0.93 $95,320 $95,511 16% 40 Washington State 0.93 $103,070 $96,058 22% 41 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro 0.93 $108,220 $95,940 22% 42 Alabama State 0.91 $81,940 $94,076 14% 43 Kansas City, MO-KS Metro 0.91 $86,760 $93,491 18% 44 Tennessee State 0.90 $85,020 $92,918 18% 45 Mississippi State 0.89 $77,670 $91,592 14% 46 Illinois State 0.87 $87,150 $89,476 18% 47 South Carolina State 0.81 $76,500 $83,152 20% 48 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro 0.80 $89,900 $82,857 27% 49 Florida State 0.78 $81,980 $80,768 25% 50 New York State 0.75 $87,350 $77,644 25% 51 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro 0.74 $75,480 $76,629 27% 52 Colorado State 0.73 $79,190 $75,133 28% 53 South Dakota State 0.67 $63,160 $69,559 18%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).