Best Cities for Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondarys

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where forestry and conservation 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	MichiganState	1.48	$138,130	$149,653	10%
2	VirginiaState	1.27	$132,820	$128,329	14%
3	OregonState	1.22	$126,930	$123,233	15%
4	ArizonaState	1.13	$115,730	$114,698	16%
5	North CarolinaState	1.13	$108,430	$114,862	14%
6	IndianaState	1.11	$102,330	$113,072	12%
7	MontanaState	1.07	$104,220	$108,112	13%
8	WisconsinState	1.05	$98,410	$106,620	13%
9	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.01	$101,420	$101,930	18%
10	GeorgiaState	1.00	$94,310	$100,974	18%
11	West VirginiaState	0.99	$84,450	$100,297	12%
12	WashingtonState	0.96	$104,490	$97,381	22%
13	AlabamaState	0.91	$80,380	$92,285	14%
14	MissouriState	0.89	$79,820	$90,090	16%
15	MinnesotaState	0.83	$82,670	$84,357	19%
16	MaineState	0.81	$82,280	$82,445	19%
17	CaliforniaState	0.55	$61,730	$55,763	44%

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