Best Cities for Fashion Designerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where fashion designerss 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	MassachusettsState	1.18	$103,520	$95,410	26%
2	New HampshireState	1.17	$100,160	$94,491	19%
3	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.16	$106,630	$93,947	29%
4	New JerseyState	1.15	$101,610	$93,392	21%
5	OhioState	1.12	$82,050	$90,763	15%
6	VirginiaState	1.12	$94,120	$90,937	20%
7	ColoradoState	1.10	$94,140	$89,317	24%
8	New YorkState	1.08	$98,640	$87,680	22%
9	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.06	$82,130	$85,731	22%
10	GeorgiaState	1.04	$78,340	$83,876	22%
11	North CarolinaState	0.98	$74,990	$79,439	21%
12	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.98	$78,280	$79,472	26%
13	VermontState	0.96	$79,610	$77,668	21%
14	ConnecticutState	0.94	$81,510	$75,753	23%
15	WashingtonState	0.94	$82,030	$76,449	28%
16	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	0.94	$78,890	$76,222	24%
17	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.92	$85,220	$74,558	31%
18	MichiganState	0.85	$63,430	$68,722	21%
19	KansasState	0.81	$59,150	$65,722	21%
20	PennsylvaniaState	0.81	$63,840	$65,814	24%
21	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.80	$63,210	$65,031	30%
22	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	0.79	$59,150	$63,739	26%
23	WisconsinState	0.76	$57,030	$61,788	23%
24	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.72	$53,950	$58,324	26%
25	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.68	$62,400	$55,319	38%
26	MaineState	0.61	$49,530	$49,629	31%
27	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	0.57	$46,150	$46,382	38%
28	ArizonaState	0.56	$45,720	$45,312	39%
29	IndianaState	0.56	$40,740	$45,017	31%
30	HawaiiState	0.54	$47,990	$43,627	60%
31	MinnesotaState	0.53	$42,110	$42,969	36%
32	FloridaState	0.52	$43,020	$42,384	48%
33	TexasState	0.52	$40,040	$41,883	42%

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