Home / Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary / Best Cities Best Cities for Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondarys Cities ranked by purchasing power — where environmental science 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 Kentucky State 1.65 $139,110 $157,186 8% 2 Oklahoma State 1.35 $113,680 $128,452 10% 3 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 1.34 $127,100 $127,739 14% 4 Michigan State 1.29 $112,730 $122,134 12% 5 New Mexico State 1.27 $111,270 $120,946 11% 6 Maryland State 1.26 $131,060 $120,018 15% 7 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro 1.21 $110,510 $115,355 16% 8 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro 1.20 $110,540 $114,194 18% 9 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro 1.20 $130,260 $113,963 20% 10 South Carolina State 1.14 $99,540 $108,196 15% 11 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro 1.14 $105,000 $108,025 18% 12 Illinois State 1.13 $104,440 $107,228 15% 13 Tennessee State 1.13 $98,560 $107,716 15% 14 Pittsburgh, PA Metro 1.10 $96,840 $104,692 15% 15 Utah State 1.09 $103,510 $103,303 17% 16 Montana State 1.07 $97,890 $101,546 14% 17 Virginia State 1.07 $104,730 $101,188 18% 18 Vermont State 1.05 $102,580 $100,078 17% 19 California State 1.03 $108,290 $97,823 25% 20 Massachusetts State 1.03 $106,110 $97,797 26% 21 New Hampshire State 1.02 $102,650 $96,840 19% 22 Minnesota State 1.01 $93,640 $95,551 16% 23 Nevada State 1.00 $94,820 $94,631 18% 24 Washington State 1.00 $101,430 $94,529 22% 25 Missouri State 0.99 $83,210 $93,916 15% 26 Pennsylvania State 0.99 $91,640 $94,474 17% 27 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 0.99 $107,010 $94,282 29% 28 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 0.99 $97,380 $94,087 20% 29 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro 0.98 $104,810 $92,917 23% 30 Maine State 0.97 $92,120 $92,305 17% 31 Ohio State 0.97 $82,920 $91,726 15% 32 New York State 0.96 $102,640 $91,236 22% 33 Georgia State 0.95 $84,290 $90,246 20% 34 Mississippi State 0.95 $76,210 $89,870 14% 35 Iowa State 0.94 $79,570 $89,204 14% 36 Columbus, OH Metro 0.93 $82,560 $88,299 19% 37 North Carolina State 0.92 $82,360 $87,246 19% 38 Oregon State 0.92 $90,270 $87,641 21% 39 District of Columbia State 0.91 $99,300 $86,877 25% 40 Indiana State 0.91 $78,400 $86,630 16% 41 Wisconsin State 0.90 $79,120 $85,720 16% 42 Texas State 0.87 $79,160 $82,803 21% 43 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 0.86 $95,360 $81,854 29% 44 Arizona State 0.85 $81,730 $81,001 22% 45 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 0.84 $85,740 $79,536 25% 46 Florida State 0.81 $77,830 $76,680 27% 47 New Jersey State 0.80 $82,890 $76,186 26% 48 Colorado State 0.79 $78,800 $74,763 28% 49 Alabama State 0.78 $64,700 $74,282 18% 50 Arkansas State 0.73 $59,910 $69,421 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).