Best Cities for Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondarys

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondarys 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	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.56	$150,400	$125,125	25%
2	HawaiiState	1.47	$129,530	$117,755	22%
3	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.31	$96,020	$105,285	15%
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.27	$98,970	$101,821	19%
5	DelawareState	1.21	$98,170	$97,198	17%
6	NevadaState	1.20	$96,500	$96,307	18%
7	District of ColumbiaState	1.17	$107,770	$94,287	23%
8	IdahoState	1.17	$90,890	$94,187	16%
9	AlabamaState	1.14	$79,690	$91,493	14%
10	WisconsinState	1.14	$84,700	$91,766	15%
11	NebraskaState	1.13	$82,720	$90,404	15%
12	ConnecticutState	1.11	$95,500	$88,755	20%
13	LouisianaState	1.11	$79,960	$88,746	16%
14	TexasState	1.11	$84,930	$88,839	20%
15	MississippiState	1.10	$75,060	$88,514	14%
16	North DakotaState	1.09	$80,710	$87,160	15%
17	TennesseeState	1.09	$80,050	$87,486	19%
18	IowaState	1.08	$77,360	$86,726	15%
19	New MexicoState	1.08	$79,380	$86,283	16%
20	South CarolinaState	1.08	$79,540	$86,457	19%
21	MissouriState	1.07	$76,340	$86,163	16%
22	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	1.07	$84,590	$85,878	24%
23	MichiganState	1.06	$78,870	$85,450	17%
24	North CarolinaState	1.06	$80,400	$85,169	19%
25	OhioState	1.06	$76,700	$84,845	16%
26	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	1.06	$81,600	$84,823	23%
27	IndianaState	1.05	$76,080	$84,066	17%
28	Columbus, OHMetro	1.05	$79,040	$84,535	20%
29	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.05	$83,950	$84,372	21%
30	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.05	$94,740	$83,989	25%
31	GeorgiaState	1.04	$77,720	$83,212	22%
32	MinnesotaState	1.03	$81,280	$82,939	19%
33	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.03	$76,340	$82,263	20%
34	AlaskaState	1.02	$85,650	$82,119	19%
35	UtahState	1.02	$82,320	$82,156	22%
36	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.02	$79,490	$82,118	24%
37	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.02	$78,250	$81,681	23%
38	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.02	$93,540	$81,837	28%
39	FloridaState	1.01	$82,410	$81,192	25%
40	IllinoisState	1.01	$79,150	$81,263	20%
41	KentuckyState	1.01	$71,920	$81,266	16%
42	MontanaState	1.01	$77,980	$80,892	17%
43	PennsylvaniaState	1.01	$78,460	$80,887	20%
44	MaineState	0.99	$79,600	$79,760	20%
45	VirginiaState	0.99	$82,550	$79,758	23%
46	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.99	$84,050	$79,442	24%
47	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.99	$86,030	$79,290	28%
48	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.99	$73,830	$79,816	19%
49	ArizonaState	0.98	$78,980	$78,276	23%
50	ColoradoState	0.98	$82,530	$78,302	27%
51	MassachusettsState	0.98	$85,130	$78,461	32%
52	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	0.98	$81,040	$78,300	24%
53	Rhode IslandState	0.97	$78,340	$77,950	23%
54	WyomingState	0.97	$72,590	$78,054	16%
55	MarylandState	0.96	$84,050	$76,969	24%
56	OklahomaState	0.96	$67,840	$76,655	17%
57	WashingtonState	0.95	$81,630	$76,076	28%
58	OregonState	0.94	$78,050	$75,777	24%
59	CaliforniaState	0.92	$81,960	$74,038	33%
60	New HampshireState	0.92	$78,310	$73,877	24%
61	New YorkState	0.92	$82,950	$73,733	27%
62	West VirginiaState	0.92	$62,210	$73,884	16%
63	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.92	$83,550	$73,612	37%
64	ArkansasState	0.91	$63,090	$73,105	17%
65	South DakotaState	0.91	$66,630	$73,381	17%
66	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.91	$78,850	$73,145	27%
67	New JerseyState	0.88	$76,980	$70,754	28%
68	KansasState	0.87	$62,870	$69,856	20%
69	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.85	$79,680	$68,395	34%
70	VermontState	0.81	$66,660	$65,034	26%

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