Best Cities for Food Science Technicianss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where food science technicianss 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	Columbus, OHMetro	1.77	$86,300	$92,299	18%
2	KentuckyState	1.40	$64,770	$73,186	18%
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.34	$79,850	$69,860	33%
4	MissouriState	1.29	$59,570	$67,235	21%
5	OhioState	1.21	$57,060	$63,119	22%
6	VirginiaState	1.21	$65,360	$63,150	29%
7	IllinoisState	1.20	$60,820	$62,444	26%
8	MississippiState	1.16	$51,460	$60,684	21%
9	WisconsinState	1.16	$55,690	$60,336	23%
10	VermontState	1.14	$60,980	$59,493	28%
11	MinnesotaState	1.13	$57,940	$59,122	27%
12	NevadaState	1.13	$59,070	$58,952	29%
13	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.12	$58,290	$58,583	30%
14	FloridaState	1.11	$58,500	$57,635	35%
15	WashingtonState	1.11	$62,070	$57,847	37%
16	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.11	$61,410	$58,043	33%
17	GeorgiaState	1.09	$53,150	$56,906	32%
18	IowaState	1.09	$50,740	$56,883	23%
19	MichiganState	1.08	$52,130	$56,479	26%
20	ColoradoState	1.07	$58,540	$55,541	38%
21	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.07	$63,160	$55,648	49%
22	ArkansasState	1.04	$46,810	$54,241	23%
23	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.04	$52,690	$54,432	37%
24	South DakotaState	1.03	$48,760	$53,700	24%
25	MarylandState	1.02	$57,880	$53,004	35%
26	NebraskaState	1.02	$48,530	$53,038	26%
27	OklahomaState	1.02	$47,240	$53,379	25%
28	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.02	$48,970	$52,941	29%
29	MassachusettsState	1.01	$56,850	$52,396	48%
30	New JerseyState	1.00	$56,730	$52,142	38%
31	North CarolinaState	0.99	$48,640	$51,525	32%
32	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.98	$49,460	$50,885	38%
33	IdahoState	0.97	$48,980	$50,756	29%
34	New MexicoState	0.97	$46,500	$50,543	27%
35	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.97	$49,610	$50,365	42%
36	TexasState	0.96	$47,760	$49,958	35%
37	IndianaState	0.95	$44,630	$49,315	28%
38	New YorkState	0.95	$55,470	$49,307	40%
39	PennsylvaniaState	0.95	$48,060	$49,546	32%
40	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	0.95	$59,580	$49,567	63%
41	CaliforniaState	0.94	$54,200	$48,961	50%
42	LouisianaState	0.94	$44,310	$49,179	28%
43	OregonState	0.94	$50,590	$49,117	38%
44	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.92	$51,570	$47,839	42%
45	AlabamaState	0.90	$40,940	$47,003	28%
46	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.90	$54,410	$46,704	50%
47	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.90	$50,890	$46,903	48%
48	ConnecticutState	0.89	$49,700	$46,190	38%
49	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	0.89	$48,060	$46,435	40%
50	UtahState	0.86	$45,110	$45,020	40%
51	KansasState	0.85	$39,930	$44,367	31%
52	South CarolinaState	0.82	$39,480	$42,913	38%

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