Best Cities for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Healths

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where environmental scientists and specialists, including healths 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	District of ColumbiaState	1.41	$132,620	$116,028	19%
2	Rhode IslandState	1.22	$100,730	$100,229	18%
3	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.22	$92,350	$100,380	17%
4	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.20	$97,860	$98,352	18%
5	West VirginiaState	1.19	$82,100	$97,506	12%
6	CaliforniaState	1.17	$106,510	$96,215	26%
7	TexasState	1.17	$92,000	$96,234	18%
8	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.17	$108,160	$95,887	22%
9	New MexicoState	1.15	$86,630	$94,163	15%
10	OregonState	1.15	$97,440	$94,602	20%
11	MassachusettsState	1.13	$100,640	$92,756	27%
12	GeorgiaState	1.12	$85,710	$91,767	20%
13	North DakotaState	1.11	$84,570	$91,328	14%
14	WashingtonState	1.11	$98,300	$91,612	23%
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.11	$98,050	$90,955	22%
16	UtahState	1.10	$90,710	$90,529	20%
17	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.10	$87,820	$90,723	22%
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.10	$105,340	$90,421	26%
19	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.10	$102,980	$90,096	26%
20	MinnesotaState	1.09	$88,000	$89,796	17%
21	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.08	$100,360	$88,423	31%
22	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.08	$106,510	$88,611	35%
23	AlaskaState	1.07	$91,960	$88,169	18%
24	IowaState	1.07	$78,780	$88,318	15%
25	Columbus, OHMetro	1.07	$82,350	$88,075	19%
26	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.07	$85,210	$87,665	22%
27	KansasState	1.06	$78,210	$86,900	16%
28	OhioState	1.06	$78,540	$86,881	16%
29	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.06	$80,690	$86,950	19%
30	OklahomaState	1.04	$75,910	$85,774	15%
31	IllinoisState	1.02	$81,590	$83,768	19%
32	TennesseeState	1.02	$76,840	$83,978	20%
33	AlabamaState	1.01	$72,490	$83,226	16%
34	MontanaState	1.01	$80,260	$83,257	17%
35	NevadaState	1.01	$83,050	$82,884	21%
36	MichiganState	1.00	$76,080	$82,427	18%
37	ColoradoState	0.99	$85,990	$81,584	26%
38	South CarolinaState	0.99	$74,910	$81,424	20%
39	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	0.99	$74,300	$81,469	20%
40	KentuckyState	0.98	$71,040	$80,271	16%
41	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.98	$77,800	$80,873	24%
42	ArizonaState	0.97	$80,600	$79,881	22%
43	VirginiaState	0.97	$82,230	$79,449	23%
44	WyomingState	0.97	$74,050	$79,624	16%
45	North CarolinaState	0.96	$74,130	$78,528	21%
46	WisconsinState	0.96	$72,820	$78,895	18%
47	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.96	$83,720	$79,130	24%
48	PennsylvaniaState	0.95	$76,110	$78,464	20%
49	LouisianaState	0.94	$69,820	$77,492	18%
50	MarylandState	0.94	$84,190	$77,097	24%
51	ConnecticutState	0.93	$82,070	$76,273	23%
52	New HampshireState	0.93	$80,810	$76,236	24%
53	VermontState	0.92	$77,460	$75,571	22%
54	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.92	$72,730	$75,919	25%
55	South DakotaState	0.91	$68,230	$75,143	17%
56	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	0.91	$77,710	$75,082	25%
57	IdahoState	0.89	$70,350	$72,902	20%
58	New JerseyState	0.89	$79,210	$72,803	27%
59	New YorkState	0.89	$82,160	$73,031	27%
60	HawaiiState	0.88	$79,510	$72,282	36%
61	IndianaState	0.87	$64,700	$71,492	20%
62	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.86	$65,360	$70,659	22%
63	NebraskaState	0.85	$64,040	$69,989	20%
64	MissouriState	0.84	$61,050	$68,905	20%
65	MississippiState	0.83	$57,780	$68,137	19%
66	ArkansasState	0.81	$57,220	$66,304	18%
67	MaineState	0.81	$66,480	$66,613	23%
68	DelawareState	0.78	$64,690	$64,050	25%
69	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.77	$68,920	$63,521	36%
70	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.77	$62,680	$63,635	33%
71	FloridaState	0.73	$60,830	$59,931	34%

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