Best Cities for Teachers and Instructors, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where teachers and instructors, 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	Rhode IslandState	1.96	$130,480	$129,831	14%
2	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.61	$99,070	$106,756	16%
3	KansasState	1.59	$94,520	$105,022	13%
4	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.42	$99,430	$93,979	20%
5	MassachusettsState	1.40	$100,610	$92,728	27%
6	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.34	$100,610	$88,643	30%
7	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.31	$97,920	$86,809	24%
8	MarylandState	1.30	$94,070	$86,145	21%
9	MaineState	1.28	$84,330	$84,499	18%
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.27	$97,680	$83,845	28%
11	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.26	$76,460	$83,109	20%
12	OklahomaState	1.25	$73,320	$82,847	16%
13	VirginiaState	1.25	$85,280	$82,396	22%
14	District of ColumbiaState	1.23	$93,040	$81,400	27%
15	MississippiState	1.20	$67,200	$79,245	16%
16	CaliforniaState	1.19	$87,460	$79,006	31%
17	IllinoisState	1.19	$76,450	$78,491	21%
18	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.16	$82,740	$76,753	26%
19	AlabamaState	1.15	$66,510	$76,361	17%
20	West VirginiaState	1.15	$64,140	$76,176	16%
21	South DakotaState	1.12	$67,200	$74,009	17%
22	AlaskaState	1.10	$76,000	$72,867	22%
23	ColoradoState	1.10	$76,380	$72,467	29%
24	New MexicoState	1.10	$66,800	$72,609	19%
25	WashingtonState	1.10	$77,720	$72,432	29%
26	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.08	$81,360	$71,181	32%
27	HawaiiState	1.06	$77,360	$70,327	37%
28	New YorkState	1.05	$78,300	$69,600	28%
29	NebraskaState	1.03	$62,560	$68,372	20%
30	New JerseyState	1.02	$73,590	$67,638	29%
31	DelawareState	1.01	$67,230	$66,564	24%
32	LouisianaState	1.00	$59,460	$65,993	21%
33	KentuckyState	0.99	$58,200	$65,763	20%
34	NevadaState	0.99	$65,610	$65,479	27%
35	North DakotaState	0.99	$60,420	$65,248	19%
36	South CarolinaState	0.99	$60,220	$65,457	25%
37	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	0.98	$77,720	$64,659	49%
38	GeorgiaState	0.97	$60,130	$64,379	28%
39	OregonState	0.97	$65,800	$63,883	29%
40	MinnesotaState	0.95	$61,330	$62,582	25%
41	MissouriState	0.95	$55,870	$63,059	22%
42	OhioState	0.95	$56,890	$62,931	22%
43	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	0.95	$64,810	$62,618	30%
44	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	0.94	$61,720	$62,030	29%
45	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.93	$60,490	$61,411	34%
46	IowaState	0.92	$54,080	$60,628	21%
47	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.92	$58,870	$60,816	33%
48	PennsylvaniaState	0.91	$58,420	$60,227	27%
49	MichiganState	0.90	$54,680	$59,242	25%
50	ConnecticutState	0.87	$62,270	$57,872	30%
51	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	0.86	$52,170	$57,204	28%
52	UtahState	0.85	$56,280	$56,168	32%
53	IdahoState	0.84	$53,600	$55,544	27%
54	WisconsinState	0.84	$51,580	$55,883	25%
55	ArizonaState	0.83	$55,270	$54,777	33%
56	TennesseeState	0.83	$50,000	$54,645	30%
57	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.83	$50,800	$54,919	28%
58	IndianaState	0.82	$48,960	$54,099	26%
59	TexasState	0.81	$51,120	$53,473	33%
60	North CarolinaState	0.80	$50,000	$52,966	31%
61	VermontState	0.80	$53,920	$52,605	32%
62	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.78	$49,420	$51,372	38%
63	FloridaState	0.77	$51,730	$50,966	40%
64	MontanaState	0.77	$48,890	$50,716	28%
65	New HampshireState	0.77	$53,680	$50,642	35%
66	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.77	$49,050	$51,200	37%
67	ArkansasState	0.73	$41,940	$48,598	25%
68	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.72	$51,710	$47,659	47%
69	Columbus, OHMetro	0.71	$43,600	$46,631	36%
70	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.70	$45,140	$46,440	42%

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