Highest-paying Cities for Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials

The top 100 highest paying cities for umpires, referees, and other sports officials (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 umpires, referees, and other sports officials in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $85,040, Newark-Union, Pennsylvania is the highest paying city for umpires, referees, and other sports officials. It is followed by New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York (average annual salary $63,650). 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 umpires, referees, and other sports officials in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$85,040	$24,340	120
2	New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York	$63,650	$17,280	990
3	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$60,280	$24,430	160
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$59,280	$38,700	70
5	Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky	$54,050	$17,490	70
6	Charlottesville, Virginia	$53,200	$24,320	60
7	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$52,000	$28,910	70
8	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$51,330	$17,770	1,150
9	Nassau-Suffolk, New York	$50,400	$23,020	110
10	Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada	$49,980	$19,990	120
11	Bismarck, North Dakota	$49,620	$21,770	80
12	Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky	$48,970	$31,810	40
13	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$48,860	$48,860	70
14	Modesto, California	$48,740	$41,050	n/a
15	Fargo, North Dakota	$48,190	$18,570	90
16	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$48,040	$25,510	90
17	Madison, Wisconsin	$45,790	$23,240	60
18	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$45,510	$27,890	90
19	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas	$44,440	$34,560	120
20	Champaign-Urbana, Illinois	$44,160	$32,920	50
21	West Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$43,980	$34,630	100
22	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	$43,540	$20,590	130
23	Memphis, Tennessee	$43,220	$38,370	50
24	Lafayette, Louisiana	$42,930	$18,400	70
25	West Central Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area, Wisconsin	$42,780	$18,830	n/a
26	Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Virginia	$42,500	$18,670	30
27	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$42,170	$31,670	30
28	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington	$41,950	$27,510	100
29	Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan	$41,930	$24,310	80
30	Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania	$41,770	$20,800	90
31	St Louis, Missouri	$41,600	$24,960	360
32	Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Florida	$41,430	$19,260	50
33	Northcentral Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$41,410	$34,230	60
34	Kansas City, Missouri	$40,670	$23,540	150
35	Jacksonville, Florida	$39,700	$22,040	40
36	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$39,540	$20,000	60
37	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana	$39,450	$16,020	40
38	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL Metropolitan Division), Illinois	$39,370	$18,470	550
39	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio	$39,290	$21,880	40
40	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York	$39,170	$23,100	40
41	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$39,110	$21,840	330
42	Erie, Pennsylvania	$38,850	$17,470	40
43	Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$38,530	$32,280	60
44	Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana	$38,380	$18,980	50
45	Railbelt-Southwest Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$38,110	$31,590	50
46	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$37,780	$23,120	150
47	Eastern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area, Wisconsin	$37,740	$17,550	70
48	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$37,730	$30,970	340
49	Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$37,700	$32,630	220
50	Greeley, Colorado	$37,310	$27,180	60
51	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tennessee	$37,240	$24,390	60
52	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$37,210	$33,200	100
53	Topeka, Kansas	$36,290	$19,390	n/a
54	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Michigan	$36,090	$17,110	170
55	Boulder, Colorado	$36,070	$23,360	70
56	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida	$35,520	$21,220	80
57	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$35,360	$26,810	570
58	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$35,240	$22,900	130
59	Tacoma, Washington	$35,070	$21,490	240
60	Duluth, Wisconsin	$34,680	$18,350	n/a
61	Eastern Tennessee nonmetropolitan area, Tennessee	$34,610	$17,210	n/a
62	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$34,440	$31,850	140
63	Salem, Oregon	$34,150	$24,330	60
64	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	$33,980	$29,830	60
65	Southeast Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$33,970	$17,590	n/a
66	Stockton, California	$33,730	$27,070	130
67	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California	$33,600	$18,420	90
68	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$33,390	$30,100	80
69	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia	$33,190	$16,700	100
70	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$33,150	$29,310	940
71	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$33,140	$29,530	110
72	Spokane, Washington	$32,920	$28,590	40
73	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$32,690	$29,130	240
74	Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$32,680	$25,690	30
75	Colorado Springs, Colorado	$32,590	$27,040	50
76	Salinas, California	$32,510	$30,330	80
77	Knoxville, Tennessee	$32,440	$17,680	50
78	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$32,410	$26,770	70
79	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$32,370	$19,030	40
80	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan	$32,220	$24,030	90
81	North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$32,010	$31,220	30
82	Manchester, New Hampshire	$31,870	$20,900	n/a
83	South Central Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area, Wisconsin	$31,860	$18,930	40
84	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$31,810	$27,570	330
85	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$31,350	$30,170	130
86	Peabody, Massachusetts	$31,350	$22,890	70
87	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida	$31,350	$21,470	30
88	Lawrence, Kansas	$30,720	$21,180	180
89	West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Florida	$30,670	$25,690	40
90	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$30,540	$27,100	50
91	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, Rhode Island	$30,210	$24,700	210
92	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$30,040	$17,980	330
93	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida	$30,020	$19,530	60
94	Green Bay, Wisconsin	$29,960	$16,630	n/a
95	Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado	$29,260	$25,980	90
96	Southwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$29,220	$22,390	40
97	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida	$28,730	$21,570	n/a
98	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$28,670	$27,070	290
99	Kansas nonmetropolitan area, Kansas	$28,080	$18,940	140
100	Bakersfield-Delano, California	$27,980	$24,440	130

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for umpires, referees, and other sports officials.