Highest-paying Cities for Nuclear Engineers

The top 79 highest paying cities for nuclear engineers (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 nuclear engineers in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $166,070, Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado is the highest paying city for nuclear engineers. It is followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia (average annual salary $159,280). 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 nuclear engineers in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 79 Highest-paying cities/areas for Nuclear Engineers

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$166,070	$67,110	n/a
2	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$159,280	$93,300	460
3	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$155,100	$136,800	50
4	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$145,590	$89,200	140
5	Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Maryland	$140,920	$96,640	120
6	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington	$139,550	$106,230	520
7	Southern Vermont nonmetropolitan area, Vermont	$138,380	$110,330	50
8	Los Alamos County, New Mexico	$138,050	$101,470	560
9	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$137,810	$98,920	290
10	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$137,330	$89,480	70
11	Idaho Falls, Idaho	$133,840	$108,260	580
12	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$132,830	$80,690	170
13	Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan	$131,940	$83,720	70
14	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$129,960	$77,900	90
15	Richmond, Virginia	$128,700	$79,330	150
16	New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York	$127,720	$69,060	330
17	Augusta-Richmond County, South Carolina	$127,240	$81,850	70
18	Albuquerque, New Mexico	$126,820	$92,420	340
19	Northern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, New Mexico	$126,270	$79,420	550
20	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$125,830	$73,230	410
21	Knoxville, Tennessee	$125,450	$86,540	380
22	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia	$124,950	$97,000	40
23	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$123,750	$89,670	n/a
24	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$123,720	$99,970	60
25	Syracuse, New York	$123,390	$77,440	100
26	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL Metropolitan Division), Illinois	$123,000	$102,410	370
27	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$122,480	$66,680	90
28	Kalamazoo-Portage, Michigan	$122,230	$110,980	n/a
29	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$121,940	$99,410	n/a
30	Chattanooga, Tennessee	$121,480	$97,550	80
31	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio	$121,380	$94,340	80
32	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$120,820	$88,830	160
33	Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, New Mexico	$120,670	$88,570	50
34	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida	$120,440	$83,840	100
35	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	$120,080	$79,690	140
36	Nevada nonmetropolitan area, Nevada	$119,930	$88,640	n/a
37	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California	$119,720	$91,630	390
38	Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania	$118,920	$82,100	90
39	Memphis, Tennessee	$117,890	$98,770	60
40	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California	$117,480	$84,830	170
41	Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina	$116,600	$83,320	100
42	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$116,570	$77,610	740
43	Northwest Illinois nonmetropolitan area, Illinois	$115,850	$95,040	110
44	Eastern Tennessee nonmetropolitan area, Tennessee	$115,280	$97,860	40
45	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$114,430	$80,040	n/a
46	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington	$114,430	$80,040	n/a
47	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	$113,410	$88,490	n/a
48	Jefferson City, Missouri	$112,900	$72,710	n/a
49	Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, South Carolina	$112,650	$80,900	120
50	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, South Carolina	$111,810	$97,150	40
51	Green Bay, Wisconsin	$110,910	$99,980	n/a
52	Florence, South Carolina	$109,400	$77,920	190
53	Port St Lucie, Florida	$108,350	$82,990	n/a
54	Norwich-New London, Rhode Island	$108,260	$73,710	n/a
55	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$108,230	$61,330	30
56	South Arkansas nonmetropolitan area, Arkansas	$107,580	$69,450	n/a
57	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$106,620	$88,840	350
58	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana	$105,710	$70,820	100
59	Columbia, South Carolina	$104,610	$97,510	120
60	Wilmington, North Carolina	$104,190	$67,200	70
61	Lynchburg, Virginia	$103,090	$75,980	90
62	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, South Carolina	$102,580	$62,770	530
63	Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, South Carolina	$101,720	$83,700	n/a
64	Rochester, New York	$100,940	$81,340	70
65	Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska	$99,120	$70,760	180
66	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$96,340	$61,650	90
67	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia	$96,030	$77,380	840
68	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$94,560	$79,860	290
69	Monroe, Michigan	$94,380	$52,400	120
70	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$93,840	$57,050	150
71	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$92,880	$82,000	n/a
72	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$92,870	$61,460	n/a
73	Toledo, Ohio	$91,150	$67,370	160
74	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$90,500	$45,740	n/a
75	Honolulu, Hawaii	$89,070	$66,960	n/a
76	South Nebraska nonmetropolitan area, Nebraska	$87,520	$87,520	40
77	Kansas City, Missouri	$86,940	$64,930	n/a
78	Salt Lake City, Utah	$78,230	$46,320	50
79	College Station-Bryan, Texas	$44,580	$26,790	80

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for nuclear engineers.