Highest-paying Cities for Materials Scientists

The top 100 highest paying cities for materials scientists (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of materials scientists in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $173,670, Nevada nonmetropolitan area, Nevada is the highest paying city for materials scientists. It is followed by Boulder, Colorado (average annual salary $169,260). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of materials scientists in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Materials Scientists

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Nevada nonmetropolitan area, Nevada	$173,670	$173,350	30
2	Boulder, Colorado	$169,260	$145,100	80
3	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$164,010	$106,520	70
4	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$163,170	$52,620	60
5	Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada	$147,320	$92,890	80
6	Rochester, New York	$141,240	$109,800	110
7	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$136,000	$104,510	120
8	Salt Lake City, Utah	$135,410	$74,440	60
9	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$132,340	$89,930	50
10	Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana	$127,510	$107,950	230
11	Ogden-Clearfield, Utah	$126,400	$100,200	70
12	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$126,080	$93,540	80
13	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$124,810	$69,700	290
14	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$122,560	$80,170	180
15	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$122,440	$80,750	140
16	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$119,630	$66,700	150
17	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$119,530	$86,240	60
18	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$116,780	$82,870	230
19	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana	$115,180	$80,080	n/a
20	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$113,690	$57,370	50
21	Albuquerque, New Mexico	$113,510	$83,570	190
22	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$113,250	$51,740	30
23	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$108,240	$81,780	410
24	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$108,160	$77,690	60
25	Wilmington, New Jersey	$108,040	$43,750	110
26	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Michigan	$107,030	$72,150	30
27	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York	$105,720	$61,160	40
28	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$105,540	$47,760	100
29	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia	$105,400	$51,020	70
30	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$104,780	$71,230	n/a
31	Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, New Hampshire	$104,710	$65,060	140
32	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	$104,580	$64,810	70
33	Worcester, Massachusetts	$104,580	$91,700	60
34	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$104,240	$65,140	480
35	Lake County-Kenosha County, Wisconsin	$104,190	$83,940	n/a
36	Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas	$104,040	$69,510	60
37	Nassau-Suffolk, New York	$102,880	$62,030	80
38	Edison-New Brunswick, New Jersey	$102,330	$62,890	60
39	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL Metropolitan Division), Illinois	$102,050	$48,520	220
40	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$101,780	$62,840	30
41	New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York	$100,870	$40,680	140
42	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio	$100,090	$73,670	30
43	Toledo, Ohio	$99,950	$56,500	50
44	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$99,420	$60,900	140
45	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$99,210	$63,060	40
46	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$99,060	$59,760	290
47	Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida	$99,050	$62,260	40
48	Columbus, Ohio	$98,900	$67,470	90
49	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pennsylvania	$97,960	$44,660	30
50	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California	$97,740	$49,980	190
51	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan	$97,530	$64,200	120
52	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California	$96,920	$47,920	90
53	Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio	$96,330	$68,000	70
54	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$95,310	$75,540	70
55	Dayton, Ohio	$94,930	$62,240	40
56	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$93,920	$63,290	360
57	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California	$93,790	$49,370	290
58	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$92,290	$45,220	260
59	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$90,460	$59,380	n/a
60	Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina	$88,890	$60,790	70
61	Eastern Tennessee nonmetropolitan area, Tennessee	$86,740	$48,530	n/a
62	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	$86,700	$63,520	40
63	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$85,880	$51,220	60
64	Richmond, Virginia	$85,510	$32,000	40
65	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, South Carolina	$84,330	$43,830	50
66	Kansas City, Missouri	$83,300	$42,630	n/a
67	Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Virginia	$83,240	$58,800	40
68	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$82,870	$49,170	100
69	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia	$82,680	$44,930	40
70	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee	$81,590	$51,290	40
71	Spokane, Washington	$81,160	$49,450	30
72	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida	$79,840	$56,060	60
73	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$79,180	$45,670	40
74	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$78,610	$51,960	n/a
75	Lancaster, Pennsylvania	$78,520	$46,730	30
76	St Louis, Missouri	$78,440	$55,280	60
77	Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska	$78,320	$46,450	n/a
78	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida	$77,850	$47,590	40
79	Jacksonville, Florida	$77,500	$47,370	50
80	Provo-Orem, Utah	$76,970	$54,840	40
81	Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan	$75,480	$49,050	40
82	West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Florida	$74,930	$65,270	60
83	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$73,430	$53,320	180
84	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida	$71,200	$52,590	50
85	Knoxville, Tennessee	$70,070	$45,650	40
86	Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$69,050	$38,870	30
87	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, South Carolina	$67,880	$48,870	40
88	Akron, Ohio	$64,900	$36,240	30
89	Ann Arbor, Michigan	$64,250	$45,340	40
90	West Central-Southwest New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$59,550	$44,490	n/a
91	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$59,000	$59,000	60
92	Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina	$55,500	$38,700	50
93	Huntsville, Alabama	$53,870	$43,340	40
94	Springfield, Massachusetts	$51,130	$43,410	40
95	Champaign-Urbana, Illinois	$48,080	$42,010	30
96	San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	$47,420	$40,920	80
97	College Station-Bryan, Texas	$24,010	$24,010	80

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for materials scientists.