Best Cities for Social Workers, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where social workers, 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	NevadaState	1.69	$121,830	$121,587	14%
2	OklahomaState	1.60	$101,860	$115,096	11%
3	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.56	$104,400	$112,500	15%
4	MissouriState	1.55	$98,740	$111,445	13%
5	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.55	$102,460	$111,370	15%
6	Rhode IslandState	1.54	$111,590	$111,035	16%
7	AlabamaState	1.51	$94,270	$108,232	12%
8	MississippiState	1.50	$91,560	$107,972	12%
9	HawaiiState	1.47	$116,130	$105,573	25%
10	South CarolinaState	1.46	$96,350	$104,728	16%
11	South DakotaState	1.44	$93,760	$103,260	12%
12	IowaState	1.42	$91,170	$102,209	13%
13	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.41	$98,670	$101,512	19%
14	New MexicoState	1.37	$90,820	$98,717	14%
15	New HampshireState	1.36	$103,710	$97,840	18%
16	KentuckyState	1.34	$85,160	$96,226	13%
17	WashingtonState	1.33	$102,520	$95,545	22%
18	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.32	$87,800	$94,919	16%
19	IndianaState	1.30	$84,570	$93,448	15%
20	MassachusettsState	1.30	$101,280	$93,346	27%
21	DelawareState	1.28	$93,250	$92,327	17%
22	IdahoState	1.28	$88,610	$91,824	16%
23	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.28	$105,570	$92,362	25%
24	VirginiaState	1.25	$92,930	$89,787	20%
25	TexasState	1.23	$84,240	$88,117	20%
26	North DakotaState	1.22	$81,330	$87,829	14%
27	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.20	$98,320	$86,626	31%
28	District of ColumbiaState	1.17	$96,380	$84,322	26%
29	GeorgiaState	1.17	$78,260	$83,790	22%
30	NebraskaState	1.16	$76,520	$83,628	16%
31	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.15	$93,220	$82,642	26%
32	MinnesotaState	1.13	$79,790	$81,418	19%
33	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.12	$79,790	$80,191	22%
34	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.08	$80,660	$77,932	24%
35	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.08	$93,340	$77,654	40%
36	LouisianaState	1.07	$69,230	$76,837	18%
37	PennsylvaniaState	1.07	$74,430	$76,732	21%
38	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.05	$68,630	$75,252	21%
39	New YorkState	1.04	$84,010	$74,676	26%
40	West VirginiaState	1.03	$62,590	$74,335	16%
41	WyomingState	1.03	$69,020	$74,215	17%
42	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.01	$69,300	$72,338	26%
43	VermontState	0.99	$73,070	$71,288	23%
44	New JerseyState	0.98	$76,640	$70,441	28%
45	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.97	$67,260	$69,483	29%
46	MarylandState	0.96	$75,600	$69,231	27%
47	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.96	$72,860	$68,866	28%
48	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.96	$68,310	$69,350	30%
49	WisconsinState	0.95	$62,830	$68,072	21%
50	MichiganState	0.94	$62,140	$67,324	22%
51	North CarolinaState	0.94	$63,490	$67,256	25%
52	OhioState	0.92	$59,780	$66,128	21%
53	OregonState	0.92	$67,820	$65,845	28%
54	UtahState	0.92	$66,440	$66,307	27%
55	IllinoisState	0.91	$64,030	$65,739	25%
56	ConnecticutState	0.89	$69,080	$64,201	27%
57	Columbus, OHMetro	0.89	$59,690	$63,840	26%
58	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.88	$67,820	$62,913	32%
59	ArizonaState	0.86	$62,150	$61,596	29%
60	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.85	$58,780	$61,102	32%
61	MaineState	0.84	$60,280	$60,401	26%
62	AlaskaState	0.82	$61,220	$58,696	27%
63	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.82	$68,630	$58,910	40%
64	ColoradoState	0.81	$61,610	$58,454	36%
65	FloridaState	0.80	$58,550	$57,685	35%
66	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.80	$62,030	$57,171	39%
67	CaliforniaState	0.79	$63,010	$56,920	43%
68	TennesseeState	0.78	$51,460	$56,240	29%
69	ArkansasState	0.77	$47,790	$55,377	22%
70	MontanaState	0.75	$51,650	$53,579	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).