20 US Cities with the Highest Salaries
Hiring and unsure how to determine new employee pay? Location can should be a part of the consideration. Here are 20 US cities with the highest salaries.
Ever been curious about the US cities with the highest salaries? Perhaps unsurprisingly, salaries range widely from location to location, making one’s home address arguably more important than one’s qualified skillset in terms of earnings potential.
The national average salary, calculated across all occupations and all regions, is $50,620. But if you want to make more than that, there are more than a few ways to boost your paycheck.
You could, of course, wait for a raise and promotion.
Alternatively, you could move to San Francisco, a city that boasts a 153% markup on the national average pay take home. In “The City by the Bay,” a small business account manager makes $65,000 per year compared to an account manager in Peoria, Illinois with the same level of experience who makes $52,500 (this is accurate salary data, taken from the Zenefits compensation management tool). Or what about Boston? If you can endure bitter winters, you could see a 137% bump in your paycheck by becoming an east-coaster.
To determine the difference in salary rates for each city compared to the national average, we used BLS data and calculated a multiplier which reveals whether a city is above, below, or right at the national average for pay. For example, if the multiplier equaled 1, it meant the average salary for that city was exactly 1 x $50,620, whereas if the multiplier was 1.25, it would be 1.25 x $50,620. A number below 1, like .75 would indicate a below-average local salary. With this bit of data crunching, we determined the 20 US cities with the highest salaries.
So– these are the cities make it rain the hardest:
(We know this is a state map as opposed to a city map, but we thought it would be easier to look at)
20 US Cities With the Highest Salaries
1. San Francisco, California
Average salary: $77,448
Multiplier: 1.53
2. San Jose, California
Average salary: $76,942
Multiplier: 1.52
3. Lexington Park, Maryland
Average salary: $70,868
Multiplier: 1.4
3. Washington DC Metro Area (including Arlington, Alexandria)
Average salary: $70,361
Multiplier: 1.39
4. Boston, Massachusetts
Average salary: $69,349
Multiplier: 1.37
5. Bridgeport, Connecticut
Average salary: $67,324
Multiplier: 1.33
6. Framingham, Massachusetts
Average salary: $66,312
Multiplier: 1.31
7. Seattle, Washington
Average salary: $65,299
Multiplier: 1.29
8. Silver Spring, Maryland
Average salary: $64,287
Multiplier: 1.29
9. New York, New York
Average salary: $63,781
Multiplier: 1.27
10. San Rafael, California
Average salary: $63,275
Multiplier: 1.26
11. Lowell, Massachusetts
Average salary:$62,768
Multiplier: 1.25
12. Trenton, New Jersey
Average salary: $62,768
Multiplier: 1.24
13. Oakland / Berkeley, California
Average salary: $62,768
Multiplier: 1.24
14. Boulder, Colorado
Average salary: $60,744
Multiplier: 1.24
15. Newark, New Jersey
Average salary: $$60,237
Multiplier: 1.19
16. Hartford, Connecticut
Average salary: $59,225
Multiplier: 1.2
17. Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Average salary: $59,225
Multiplier: 1.19
18. Anchorage, Alaska
Average salary: $58,213
Multiplier: 1.17
19. Ithaca, New York
Average salary: $57,706
Multiplier: 1.17
20. Hempstead, New York (Nassau County)
Average salary: $57,684
Multiplier: 1.14
Why Do Cities Have Different Pay Rates?
Local impact on employee pay is generally a byproduct of a combination of things including: costs of living, the competitiveness of the job market, legacy pay that creates present salary benchmarks, and a host of other things like: educational opportunities, resources, local economic wealth, and more. You’ll notice these same patterns in the above cities with the highest salaries.
What Can Employers Learn from Salary Benchmarks?
Employers use localized pay averages to calculate how much they’ll need to pay local talent. It can also be important in:
- Determining where to open new offices
- Where to hire remote workers
- How to competitively position your business when hiring
To get more specific about the costs of particular roles, and account for things like experience levels or specific job titles, businesses can use compensation benchmarking tools.
