Home / Hydrologists / Best Cities Best Cities for Hydrologistss Cities ranked by purchasing power — where hydrologistss 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro 1.40 $152,730 $135,399 16% 2 Maryland State 1.36 $143,010 $130,962 14% 3 Missouri State 1.36 $116,100 $131,038 11% 4 Georgia State 1.35 $121,830 $130,439 14% 5 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro 1.35 $138,020 $130,454 15% 6 Virginia State 1.32 $132,080 $127,614 14% 7 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro 1.23 $142,640 $118,669 26% 8 New Jersey State 1.21 $126,680 $116,434 17% 9 Louisiana State 1.20 $104,520 $116,004 12% 10 California State 1.14 $122,110 $110,307 22% 11 Massachusetts State 1.14 $119,350 $110,000 23% 12 Oklahoma State 1.14 $97,470 $110,136 12% 13 Michigan State 1.13 $101,060 $109,491 13% 14 Nevada State 1.12 $107,930 $107,715 16% 15 Ohio State 1.12 $98,200 $108,628 13% 16 New Mexico State 1.10 $97,470 $105,946 13% 17 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 1.10 $123,420 $105,940 22% 18 Columbus, OH Metro 1.09 $98,200 $105,027 16% 19 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 1.09 $113,550 $105,334 19% 20 Alaska State 1.08 $108,660 $104,180 15% 21 Wyoming State 1.05 $94,520 $101,634 13% 22 Washington State 1.02 $105,600 $98,416 22% 23 Minnesota State 1.00 $94,580 $96,510 16% 24 Colorado State 0.99 $100,840 $95,674 22% 25 Pennsylvania State 0.98 $91,730 $94,567 17% 26 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 0.98 $94,580 $95,055 19% 27 Utah State 0.97 $94,190 $94,002 19% 28 Iowa State 0.94 $81,150 $90,975 14% 29 Oregon State 0.94 $93,690 $90,961 20% 30 Indiana State 0.92 $80,700 $89,171 16% 31 Montana State 0.91 $84,500 $87,656 16% 32 North Carolina State 0.90 $81,770 $86,621 19% 33 Arizona State 0.89 $86,700 $85,927 21% 34 Illinois State 0.89 $83,720 $85,955 19% 35 Texas State 0.88 $81,080 $84,812 20% 36 Wisconsin State 0.88 $78,770 $85,341 17% 37 Vermont State 0.87 $86,140 $84,039 20% 38 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 0.86 $85,540 $82,647 22% 39 Idaho State 0.85 $78,850 $81,710 18% 40 New York State 0.81 $88,100 $78,311 25% 41 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro 0.81 $77,020 $78,193 27% 42 Florida State 0.78 $76,850 $75,714 27% 43 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro 0.77 $80,400 $74,101 30% 44 South Carolina State 0.74 $65,770 $71,489 23%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).