Salary by State (2026)
Salary by state for 20 popular jobs, ranked by cost-of-living-adjusted real pay. California tops Registered Nurse pay at about $132,100.
These tables answer one question per job: where does this salary go furthest? Each page ranks every state we have metro data for by real pay - the state’s median wage divided by its cost-of-living index - using BLS wage percentiles and BEA Regional Price Parities.
Want city-level detail instead? Each job also has a by-city hub under /salary/, and the cost-of-living comparisons pillar covers specific metro pairs.
| Job | Top state by real pay |
|---|---|
| Accountant salary by state | Massachusetts leads at $98,200 real pay across 29 states. |
| Data Scientist salary by state | Massachusetts leads at $134,400 real pay across 29 states. |
| Dental Hygienist salary by state | New York leads at $101,500 real pay across 29 states. |
| Electrician salary by state | Illinois leads at $95,400 real pay across 29 states. |
| Executive Assistant salary by state | California leads at $78,000 real pay across 29 states. |
| Financial Analyst salary by state | Massachusetts leads at $119,200 real pay across 29 states. |
| Graphic Designer salary by state | District of Columbia leads at $73,600 real pay across 29 states. |
| Human Resources Specialist salary by state | District of Columbia leads at $85,500 real pay across 29 states. |
| Marketing Manager salary by state | California leads at $168,900 real pay across 29 states. |
| Mechanical Engineer salary by state | New Mexico leads at $140,000 real pay across 29 states. |
| Paralegal salary by state | District of Columbia leads at $74,100 real pay across 29 states. |
| Physical Therapist salary by state | Massachusetts leads at $109,600 real pay across 29 states. |
| Police Officer salary by state | California leads at $107,500 real pay across 29 states. |
| Project Manager salary by state | Massachusetts leads at $107,300 real pay across 29 states. |
| Registered Nurse salary by state | California leads at $132,100 real pay across 29 states. |
| Sales Representative salary by state | Massachusetts leads at $81,300 real pay across 29 states. |
| Software Developer salary by state | California leads at $159,400 real pay across 29 states. |
| Teacher salary by state | Oregon leads at $92,800 real pay across 29 states. |
| Truck Driver salary by state | Missouri leads at $61,700 real pay across 29 states. |
| Web Developer salary by state | California leads at $111,100 real pay across 29 states. |
Real pay = a state's aggregated median wage divided by its cost-of-living index (BEA Regional Price Parities), so a big nominal salary in an expensive state cannot pose as a raise. Each job's page documents how its state figures are aggregated from BLS metro data.