Best Cities for Physicians, Pathologistss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where physicians, pathologistss 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	West VirginiaState	1.52	$400,070	$475,143	3%
2	PennsylvaniaState	1.36	$413,370	$426,155	4%
3	IllinoisState	1.25	$381,770	$391,961	4%
4	NevadaState	1.23	$384,350	$383,583	5%
5	IndianaState	1.20	$340,300	$376,022	4%
6	MinnesotaState	1.18	$362,270	$369,663	4%
7	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	1.18	$362,470	$367,990	6%
8	KentuckyState	1.17	$324,390	$366,542	4%
9	IowaState	1.16	$323,460	$362,623	4%
10	TexasState	1.16	$345,830	$361,747	5%
11	OklahomaState	1.15	$317,850	$359,153	4%
12	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.13	$365,830	$353,459	5%
13	OhioState	1.10	$309,480	$342,345	4%
14	ArizonaState	1.07	$338,290	$335,273	5%
15	MichiganState	1.05	$303,070	$328,353	4%
16	New JerseyState	1.05	$355,970	$327,178	6%
17	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.04	$316,150	$325,257	6%
18	Rhode IslandState	1.03	$322,950	$321,343	6%
19	FloridaState	0.99	$313,510	$308,877	7%
20	MississippiState	0.99	$261,570	$308,455	4%
21	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.99	$283,430	$308,076	6%
22	Columbus, OHMetro	0.98	$285,280	$305,112	5%
23	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.98	$332,570	$306,516	7%
24	MissouriState	0.95	$261,830	$295,519	5%
25	New YorkState	0.91	$321,550	$285,822	7%
26	WashingtonState	0.90	$300,680	$280,224	8%
27	ColoradoState	0.89	$294,510	$279,421	8%
28	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.89	$270,000	$278,926	7%
29	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.88	$319,340	$274,112	9%
30	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.87	$288,900	$273,062	7%
31	MassachusettsState	0.84	$285,240	$262,894	9%
32	North CarolinaState	0.84	$248,940	$263,708	6%
33	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.84	$300,580	$262,975	9%
34	South CarolinaState	0.82	$236,950	$257,554	6%
35	KansasState	0.80	$224,280	$249,200	6%
36	NebraskaState	0.80	$229,140	$250,426	5%
37	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.80	$285,240	$251,313	11%
38	ArkansasState	0.79	$214,100	$248,088	5%
39	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	0.77	$224,280	$241,681	7%
40	MarylandState	0.74	$253,670	$232,299	8%
41	VirginiaState	0.74	$240,780	$232,638	8%
42	GeorgiaState	0.73	$211,800	$226,767	8%
43	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.67	$237,190	$210,275	10%
44	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	0.66	$248,420	$206,672	15%
45	VermontState	0.59	$188,250	$183,659	9%
46	CaliforniaState	0.54	$186,300	$168,293	15%
47	WisconsinState	0.29	$83,610	$90,585	16%

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