Best Cities for Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondarys

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where criminal justice and law enforcement 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	CaliforniaState	1.65	$139,720	$126,215	19%
2	ColoradoState	1.51	$122,050	$115,797	18%
3	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.32	$93,670	$101,265	15%
4	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.30	$105,680	$99,887	19%
5	PennsylvaniaState	1.27	$94,710	$97,639	16%
6	MississippiState	1.21	$78,520	$92,594	14%
7	LouisianaState	1.19	$82,100	$91,121	15%
8	MarylandState	1.19	$99,600	$91,209	20%
9	OregonState	1.19	$93,960	$91,223	20%
10	West VirginiaState	1.19	$76,730	$91,128	13%
11	IowaState	1.17	$79,690	$89,339	14%
12	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.17	$81,530	$89,397	18%
13	WisconsinState	1.16	$81,890	$88,722	16%
14	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.16	$103,870	$89,159	26%
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.14	$93,990	$87,189	23%
16	MinnesotaState	1.11	$83,060	$84,755	18%
17	OhioState	1.11	$76,610	$84,746	16%
18	Columbus, OHMetro	1.10	$78,650	$84,118	20%
19	MichiganState	1.09	$76,770	$83,174	17%
20	Rhode IslandState	1.09	$84,270	$83,851	21%
21	South CarolinaState	1.09	$76,960	$83,652	20%
22	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.09	$81,080	$83,416	23%
23	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.09	$83,060	$83,477	21%
24	TexasState	1.06	$77,270	$80,826	22%
25	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.06	$78,610	$81,209	25%
26	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.06	$83,930	$81,092	23%
27	DelawareState	1.04	$80,510	$79,713	20%
28	MissouriState	1.04	$70,500	$79,571	18%
29	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	1.02	$75,020	$77,983	25%
30	GeorgiaState	1.00	$71,510	$76,563	24%
31	UtahState	1.00	$76,650	$76,497	23%
32	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.00	$73,260	$76,472	25%
33	IndianaState	0.99	$68,340	$75,514	19%
34	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.99	$69,640	$75,696	22%
35	AlabamaState	0.98	$65,280	$74,948	18%
36	New HampshireState	0.98	$79,190	$74,708	24%
37	WyomingState	0.98	$69,530	$74,763	17%
38	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.98	$85,560	$75,383	36%
39	MassachusettsState	0.96	$79,500	$73,272	34%
40	New YorkState	0.96	$82,770	$73,573	27%
41	North DakotaState	0.95	$67,720	$73,132	17%
42	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.95	$78,720	$72,553	31%
43	ArkansasState	0.94	$62,380	$72,283	17%
44	OklahomaState	0.93	$62,990	$71,175	18%
45	ArizonaState	0.92	$71,230	$70,595	25%
46	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.91	$79,330	$69,405	33%
47	ConnecticutState	0.89	$73,090	$67,928	26%
48	IllinoisState	0.89	$66,040	$67,803	24%
49	KentuckyState	0.89	$60,280	$68,113	19%
50	TennesseeState	0.89	$62,090	$67,858	24%
51	NebraskaState	0.88	$61,650	$67,377	20%
52	NevadaState	0.88	$67,440	$67,305	26%
53	WashingtonState	0.88	$72,700	$67,754	31%
54	North CarolinaState	0.87	$63,020	$66,758	25%
55	New JerseyState	0.86	$71,610	$65,818	30%
56	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.86	$74,440	$65,993	32%
57	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.85	$64,320	$65,299	32%
58	FloridaState	0.79	$61,550	$60,640	34%
59	KansasState	0.73	$50,270	$55,856	25%
60	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	0.70	$49,810	$53,675	31%

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