Home / Historians / Best Cities Best Cities for Historianss Cities ranked by purchasing power — where historianss 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 1.53 $116,520 $117,106 15% 2 Massachusetts State 1.46 $121,710 $112,175 22% 3 Maryland State 1.44 $120,580 $110,421 17% 4 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro 1.44 $101,900 $110,761 15% 5 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 1.40 $121,710 $107,233 25% 6 Minnesota State 1.37 $103,040 $105,143 15% 7 District of Columbia State 1.35 $118,290 $103,491 21% 8 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro 1.34 $115,690 $102,562 21% 9 Virginia State 1.28 $101,920 $98,473 19% 10 Oregon State 1.26 $99,560 $96,660 19% 11 Washington State 1.21 $99,720 $92,936 23% 12 Illinois State 1.20 $89,670 $92,064 18% 13 Louisiana State 1.17 $80,620 $89,478 16% 14 California State 1.15 $97,420 $88,004 28% 15 Hawaii State 1.10 $92,520 $84,109 31% 16 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 1.10 $98,210 $84,300 28% 17 Alabama State 1.08 $72,490 $83,226 16% 18 Texas State 1.07 $78,240 $81,841 21% 19 Kansas State 1.05 $72,600 $80,667 17% 20 Nevada State 1.04 $80,140 $79,980 22% 21 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 1.03 $81,470 $78,715 24% 22 North Carolina State 1.01 $73,440 $77,797 21% 23 Tennessee State 1.01 $71,080 $77,683 21% 24 Nebraska State 1.00 $70,050 $76,557 18% 25 Pennsylvania State 0.97 $71,970 $74,196 22% 26 Florida State 0.96 $74,740 $73,635 28% 27 New Mexico State 0.95 $66,790 $72,598 19% 28 Kentucky State 0.94 $63,530 $71,785 18% 29 Missouri State 0.94 $64,230 $72,494 19% 30 Indiana State 0.92 $63,770 $70,464 20% 31 New Jersey State 0.92 $77,080 $70,846 28% 32 Georgia State 0.89 $63,840 $68,351 27% 33 Michigan State 0.89 $62,920 $68,169 21% 34 Ohio State 0.87 $60,350 $66,759 21% 35 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro 0.83 $61,640 $63,678 31% 36 Connecticut State 0.81 $66,770 $62,054 28% 37 Oklahoma State 0.75 $50,980 $57,605 23% 38 South Carolina State 0.74 $52,120 $56,652 29% 39 New York State 0.73 $62,960 $55,964 35% 40 Mississippi State 0.71 $46,010 $54,257 23% 41 Wisconsin State 0.65 $45,810 $49,632 28% 42 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro 0.62 $45,530 $47,526 40% 43 Utah State 0.44 $33,840 $33,772 53%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).