Best Cities for Mathematicianss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where mathematicianss 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	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.28	$185,520	$162,310	14%
2	WashingtonState	1.19	$162,280	$151,240	14%
3	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.15	$164,470	$145,807	15%
4	VirginiaState	1.13	$148,030	$143,024	13%
5	IllinoisState	1.06	$130,970	$134,466	12%
6	MarylandState	0.95	$131,810	$120,705	15%
7	CaliforniaState	0.90	$126,710	$114,463	21%
8	New YorkState	0.89	$126,950	$112,844	17%
9	Rhode IslandState	0.86	$109,260	$108,716	17%
10	NevadaState	0.81	$102,890	$102,685	17%
11	IndianaState	0.77	$88,050	$97,293	14%
12	MassachusettsState	0.76	$104,190	$96,028	26%
13	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.72	$104,190	$91,797	29%
14	ColoradoState	0.64	$86,020	$81,613	26%
15	MichiganState	0.56	$65,510	$70,975	20%

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