Best Cities for Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runnerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where gambling and sports book writers and runnerss 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	WisconsinState	1.46	$47,250	$51,192	28%
2	New YorkState	1.39	$54,740	$48,658	41%
3	New JerseyState	1.27	$48,260	$44,357	45%
4	MassachusettsState	1.26	$47,720	$43,982	57%
5	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.25	$43,680	$43,899	41%
6	KentuckyState	1.22	$37,910	$42,836	30%
7	OhioState	1.22	$38,460	$42,544	33%
8	IowaState	1.20	$37,440	$41,973	31%
9	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.20	$47,720	$42,044	64%
10	MichiganState	1.17	$37,720	$40,867	36%
11	CaliforniaState	1.16	$44,860	$40,524	61%
12	WashingtonState	1.12	$42,180	$39,310	54%
13	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.10	$43,790	$38,311	60%
14	NevadaState	1.07	$37,500	$37,425	46%
15	South CarolinaState	1.05	$33,650	$36,576	45%
16	IndianaState	1.03	$32,730	$36,166	39%
17	MinnesotaState	1.03	$35,370	$36,092	43%
18	IllinoisState	1.02	$34,610	$35,534	45%
19	ArizonaState	1.01	$35,640	$35,322	50%
20	KansasState	1.00	$31,550	$35,056	39%
21	FloridaState	0.96	$34,160	$33,655	60%
22	MississippiState	0.96	$28,340	$33,420	38%
23	South DakotaState	0.96	$30,620	$33,722	38%
24	North DakotaState	0.95	$30,640	$33,089	38%
25	ColoradoState	0.93	$34,450	$32,685	64%
26	NebraskaState	0.93	$29,670	$32,426	42%
27	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.93	$31,690	$32,603	60%
28	MarylandState	0.92	$35,230	$32,262	57%
29	TexasState	0.92	$30,660	$32,071	54%
30	ConnecticutState	0.91	$34,420	$31,989	55%
31	PennsylvaniaState	0.90	$30,690	$31,639	51%
32	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.89	$35,100	$31,117	68%
33	LouisianaState	0.84	$26,620	$29,545	47%
34	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.79	$29,800	$27,465	82%
35	West VirginiaState	0.67	$19,740	$23,444	51%
36	MontanaState	0.65	$22,030	$22,853	61%

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