Best Cities for Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officialss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where umpires, referees, and other sports officialss 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	North DakotaState	1.70	$63,920	$69,028	18%
2	South CarolinaState	1.64	$61,290	$66,620	25%
3	New JerseyState	1.53	$67,600	$62,132	32%
4	Columbus, OHMetro	1.53	$58,240	$62,289	27%
5	WisconsinState	1.52	$57,000	$61,755	23%
6	OhioState	1.50	$55,040	$60,885	23%
7	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.41	$57,190	$57,477	31%
8	LouisianaState	1.37	$50,080	$55,583	25%
9	West VirginiaState	1.36	$46,490	$55,214	22%
10	IndianaState	1.25	$46,140	$50,983	27%
11	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.25	$46,500	$50,987	31%
12	IllinoisState	1.24	$49,070	$50,380	32%
13	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.20	$45,300	$48,973	31%
14	IowaState	1.19	$43,040	$48,251	27%
15	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.18	$46,850	$48,200	41%
16	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.14	$42,640	$46,348	37%
17	ArizonaState	1.13	$46,440	$46,026	39%
18	PennsylvaniaState	1.12	$44,200	$45,567	35%
19	MassachusettsState	1.10	$48,400	$44,608	56%
20	TexasState	1.10	$42,920	$44,895	39%
21	VermontState	1.10	$46,080	$44,956	37%
22	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.08	$51,230	$43,974	53%
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.07	$49,410	$43,533	62%
24	ColoradoState	1.03	$44,230	$41,964	50%
25	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.02	$39,900	$41,649	45%
26	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.00	$37,650	$40,571	41%
27	CaliforniaState	0.99	$44,530	$40,226	61%
28	VirginiaState	0.97	$40,840	$39,459	46%
29	South DakotaState	0.95	$35,260	$38,833	33%
30	WashingtonState	0.95	$41,350	$38,537	55%
31	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.94	$43,570	$38,119	61%
32	MontanaState	0.93	$36,370	$37,728	37%
33	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.93	$41,020	$37,806	60%
34	MichiganState	0.92	$34,560	$37,443	39%
35	MissouriState	0.92	$33,140	$37,404	37%
36	OregonState	0.92	$38,730	$37,602	49%
37	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.92	$40,280	$37,365	53%
38	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.92	$37,090	$37,655	56%
39	ConnecticutState	0.90	$39,530	$36,738	48%
40	FloridaState	0.90	$37,070	$36,522	56%
41	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	0.90	$44,200	$36,772	85%
42	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.88	$40,300	$35,727	59%
43	NebraskaState	0.84	$31,390	$34,306	40%
44	IdahoState	0.82	$32,250	$33,420	45%
45	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.81	$34,680	$32,779	58%
46	MississippiState	0.78	$27,060	$31,910	40%
47	UtahState	0.77	$31,430	$31,367	57%
48	GeorgiaState	0.75	$28,360	$30,364	60%
49	KansasState	0.70	$25,780	$28,644	48%
50	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.70	$27,710	$28,626	70%
51	North CarolinaState	0.69	$26,540	$28,114	59%
52	OklahomaState	0.61	$21,900	$24,746	53%

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