Best Cities for Mathematical Science Occupations, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where mathematical science occupations, all others 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	CaliforniaState	2.00	$180,500	$163,053	15%
2	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.40	$109,160	$113,946	17%
3	North CarolinaState	1.32	$101,850	$107,892	15%
4	TexasState	1.19	$93,090	$97,374	18%
5	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.18	$93,320	$96,405	21%
6	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.18	$93,090	$95,772	20%
7	IllinoisState	1.02	$81,090	$83,255	19%
8	AlaskaState	0.92	$78,580	$75,340	21%
9	New YorkState	0.87	$79,460	$70,631	28%
10	TennesseeState	0.87	$65,110	$71,158	23%
11	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.78	$72,710	$63,613	36%
12	WashingtonState	0.75	$65,840	$61,361	35%
13	VirginiaState	0.71	$59,990	$57,961	32%
14	New JerseyState	0.69	$61,400	$56,434	35%
15	IowaState	0.67	$49,020	$54,955	23%
16	OklahomaState	0.51	$36,820	$41,605	32%
17	MarylandState	0.48	$42,850	$39,240	47%

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