Home / Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators / Best Cities Best Cities for Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustratorss Cities ranked by purchasing power — where fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustratorss 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 Oregon State 1.72 $98,540 $95,670 19% 2 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 1.65 $98,540 $91,410 22% 3 Nevada State 1.47 $81,630 $81,467 21% 4 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro 1.30 $82,580 $72,248 32% 5 New York State 1.26 $78,870 $70,107 28% 6 Georgia State 1.25 $65,010 $69,604 26% 7 New Mexico State 1.24 $63,090 $68,576 20% 8 Washington State 1.22 $72,430 $67,502 31% 9 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro 1.21 $65,010 $67,159 30% 10 Connecticut State 1.19 $71,210 $66,180 26% 11 Minnesota State 1.14 $61,730 $62,990 25% 12 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro 1.13 $68,140 $62,802 36% 13 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro 1.12 $65,520 $61,928 31% 14 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 1.12 $61,730 $62,040 29% 15 Maryland State 1.09 $66,180 $60,604 30% 16 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro 1.06 $56,300 $58,768 32% 17 Wisconsin State 1.04 $53,350 $57,801 24% 18 Utah State 1.03 $57,270 $57,156 31% 19 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 1.03 $59,200 $57,198 32% 20 Missouri State 1.01 $49,820 $56,230 25% 21 Pennsylvania State 1.01 $54,270 $55,948 29% 22 Arizona State 1.00 $56,160 $55,659 32% 23 Illinois State 1.00 $53,850 $55,287 29% 24 Kentucky State 0.98 $48,050 $54,294 24% 25 Oklahoma State 0.97 $47,830 $54,045 24% 26 California State 0.95 $58,240 $52,611 47% 27 Texas State 0.94 $49,650 $51,935 33% 28 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro 0.92 $49,650 $51,080 38% 29 Kansas City, MO-KS Metro 0.92 $47,630 $51,325 32% 30 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro 0.90 $56,560 $50,142 42% 31 Colorado State 0.89 $51,910 $49,250 43% 32 Florida State 0.89 $50,360 $49,616 41% 33 Pittsburgh, PA Metro 0.86 $44,130 $47,708 32% 34 Maine State 0.83 $46,170 $46,263 34% 35 Virginia State 0.83 $47,930 $46,309 39% 36 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro 0.83 $42,060 $46,118 35% 37 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro 0.83 $45,590 $46,284 45% 38 Louisiana State 0.81 $40,700 $45,172 31% 39 Nebraska State 0.78 $39,800 $43,497 32% 40 Michigan State 0.75 $38,650 $41,874 35% 41 Arkansas State 0.68 $32,340 $37,474 33% 42 Columbus, OH Metro 0.67 $34,870 $37,294 45% 43 Ohio State 0.63 $31,780 $35,155 39% 44 Tennessee State 0.61 $30,720 $33,574 49% 45 Kansas State 0.52 $25,830 $28,700 48%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).