Best Cities for Sociologistss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where sociologistss 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	KentuckyState	1.46	$136,870	$154,655	8%
2	IllinoisState	1.36	$140,770	$144,528	11%
3	North CarolinaState	1.27	$126,760	$134,280	12%
4	CaliforniaState	1.07	$125,770	$113,613	22%
5	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.01	$124,540	$106,901	22%
6	AlaskaState	0.98	$108,170	$103,710	15%
7	MassachusettsState	0.93	$106,530	$98,184	25%
8	MichiganState	0.90	$88,040	$95,385	15%
9	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.89	$106,530	$93,859	29%
10	MarylandState	0.87	$100,660	$92,179	20%
11	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.87	$103,840	$92,057	23%
12	WashingtonState	0.85	$97,170	$90,559	23%
13	Columbus, OHMetro	0.84	$82,820	$88,578	19%
14	OhioState	0.82	$78,850	$87,223	16%
15	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.80	$97,170	$85,013	27%
16	FloridaState	0.44	$46,950	$46,256	44%

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