Best Cities for Dentists, All Other Specialistss
Cities ranked by purchasing power — where dentists, all other specialistss 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro | 1.84 |
| 2 | TexasState | 1.33 |
| 3 | West VirginiaState | 1.24 |
| 4 | ArkansasState | 1.20 |
| 5 | South CarolinaState | 1.19 |
| 6 | MissouriState | 1.15 |
| 7 | IllinoisState | 1.14 |
| 8 | OklahomaState | 1.12 |
| 9 | OregonState | 1.11 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh, PAMetro | 1.11 |
| 11 | MichiganState | 1.10 |
| 12 | NebraskaState | 1.09 |
| 13 | ArizonaState | 1.08 |
| 14 | North CarolinaState | 1.06 |
| 15 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro | 1.03 |
| 16 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro | 1.03 |
| 17 | OhioState | 0.94 |
| 18 | CaliforniaState | 0.93 |
| 19 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro | 0.92 |
| 20 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro | 0.91 |
| 21 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro | 0.90 |
| 22 | PennsylvaniaState | 0.89 |
| 23 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro | 0.87 |
| 24 | MarylandState | 0.84 |
| 25 | New JerseyState | 0.82 |
| 26 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro | 0.82 |
| 27 | ColoradoState | 0.79 |
| 28 | ConnecticutState | 0.52 |
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).