Highest-paying Cities for Social Scientists and Related Workers

The top 100 highest paying cities for social scientists and related workers (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 social scientists and related workers in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $118,840, Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington is the highest paying city for social scientists and related workers. It is followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia (average annual salary $117,500). 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 social scientists and related workers in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Social Scientists and Related Workers

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$118,840	$56,370	360
2	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$117,500	$68,140	5,880
3	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$117,500	$66,060	830
4	Savannah, Georgia	$116,380	$66,210	30
5	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$115,440	$70,880	n/a
6	Salinas, California	$115,150	$73,920	30
7	Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania	$113,090	$48,320	120
8	South Florida nonmetropolitan area, Florida	$107,950	$85,280	30
9	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$107,440	$68,250	7,310
10	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$106,390	$64,000	n/a
11	New Haven, Connecticut	$105,400	$38,050	40
12	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$104,230	$78,040	40
13	Charlottesville, Virginia	$103,790	$50,680	510
14	Olympia, Washington	$103,000	$73,090	40
15	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$102,100	$76,320	300
16	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia	$101,500	$66,770	480
17	Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	$101,030	$37,560	340
18	Dayton, Ohio	$101,030	$58,360	650
19	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$99,030	$60,690	210
20	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$99,010	$64,750	1,500
21	Augusta-Richmond County, South Carolina	$98,280	$68,950	280
22	College Station-Bryan, Texas	$97,480	$66,210	60
23	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$96,930	$71,910	320
24	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$96,350	$63,290	350
25	San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	$96,200	$64,500	550
26	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan	$96,050	$60,410	140
27	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$95,920	$57,800	290
28	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$95,820	$73,220	50
29	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida	$95,010	$62,440	50
30	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$94,890	$59,140	40
31	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$94,120	$71,030	70
32	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$93,640	$74,760	160
33	Honolulu, Hawaii	$92,190	$59,170	320
34	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$90,020	$54,420	430
35	Nassau-Suffolk, New York	$90,000	$54,920	60
36	West Central Pennsylvania nonmetropolitan area, Pennsylvania	$89,810	$68,410	40
37	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California	$89,750	$59,540	200
38	Stockton, California	$89,560	$62,450	30
39	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$89,460	$32,360	40
40	West Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$89,070	$67,480	30
41	Anchorage, Alaska	$89,070	$69,220	90
42	Colorado Springs, Colorado	$88,960	$61,340	230
43	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$88,820	$49,880	560
44	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$88,690	$63,130	320
45	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California	$88,590	$49,320	50
46	Fayetteville, North Carolina	$88,570	$64,770	320
47	Eugene-Springfield, Oregon	$88,260	$51,900	50
48	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$88,210	$62,860	310
49	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Michigan	$88,150	$63,040	30
50	Asheville, North Carolina	$87,780	$53,780	n/a
51	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$87,390	$55,870	520
52	Tucson, Arizona	$87,240	$59,160	190
53	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York	$87,110	$58,460	90
54	Richmond, Virginia	$87,070	$63,880	150
55	Yuba City, California	$87,030	$65,290	50
56	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Michigan	$86,700	$42,840	90
57	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$86,550	$59,950	330
58	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California	$86,150	$53,890	770
59	Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada	$86,130	$57,530	100
60	Warner Robins, Georgia	$85,870	$60,200	30
61	North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$85,820	$44,650	30
62	Southeast Arizona nonmetropolitan area, Arizona	$85,700	$65,710	160
63	Jackson, Mississippi	$84,970	$63,960	70
64	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$84,800	$67,700	80
65	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$84,660	$47,090	420
66	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida	$84,640	$50,490	430
67	El Paso, Texas	$84,640	$60,950	150
68	New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York	$83,650	$53,180	1,540
69	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida	$83,080	$55,490	210
70	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin	$82,850	$57,140	50
71	Jacksonville, Florida	$82,710	$58,030	100
72	Albuquerque, New Mexico	$82,660	$39,640	80
73	Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas	$82,600	$55,970	220
74	Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana	$82,570	$58,910	40
75	Framingham, Massachusetts	$82,070	$44,570	n/a
76	Knoxville, Tennessee	$81,890	$62,090	40
77	Other Ohio nonmetropolitan area, Ohio	$81,890	$65,450	30
78	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$81,850	$50,660	450
79	Columbus, Ohio	$81,690	$53,190	500
80	East Kentucky nonmetropolitan area, Kentucky	$81,660	$55,370	40
81	Memphis, Tennessee	$81,660	$65,670	60
82	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$81,610	$53,220	310
83	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia	$81,520	$64,970	1,260
84	Ann Arbor, Michigan	$81,430	$49,940	220
85	Kansas City, Missouri	$81,290	$57,260	190
86	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$81,220	$51,490	140
87	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio	$80,800	$57,100	80
88	Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida	$80,770	$59,760	310
89	North Arizona nonmetropolitan area, Arizona	$80,430	$58,360	40
90	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	$80,280	$54,270	130
91	Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska	$79,850	$63,330	130
92	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$79,710	$39,310	80
93	Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$79,670	$67,560	30
94	Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, California	$79,650	$62,270	60
95	Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington	$79,630	$52,330	40
96	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	$79,440	$66,210	90
97	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Florida	$79,440	$60,200	140
98	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida	$79,350	$60,520	130
99	Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana	$79,350	$37,190	40
100	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas	$79,350	$58,360	40

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for social scientists and related workers.