Salary by metro
MBA Salary by Metro Area
What MBA-relevant roles pay across major U.S. metro areas — real BLS wage benchmarks, each adjusted for what it costs to live there.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) (May 2024 estimates (published April 2025)), metropolitan estimates. Occupational wage benchmarks across all workers, not MBA-specific outcomes.
| Metro area | Roles | Top median | Cost of living |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | 21 | $288,150 | 98.1 |
| Houston | 21 | $275,270 | 98.6 |
| Los Angeles | 21 | $234,290 | 113.6 |
| New York | 21 | $301,440 | 112.6 |
| Philadelphia | 21 | $292,770 | 102.6 |
| Atlanta | 20 | $275,820 | 100.1 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | 20 | $320,060 | 103.1 |
| Detroit | 20 | $304,110 | 100.3 |
| Sacramento | 20 | $169,770 | 106.7 |
| San Antonio | 20 | $256,610 | 94.7 |
| San Francisco | 20 | $288,690 | 115.6 |
| Seattle | 20 | $370,000 | 111.1 |
| Baltimore | 19 | $268,030 | 104.5 |
| Charlotte | 19 | $329,030 | 97.3 |
| Chicago | 19 | $344,960 | 103.6 |
| Columbus | 19 | $167,630 | 95.5 |
| Indianapolis | 19 | $256,320 | 95.7 |
| Minneapolis | 19 | $209,980 | 104.8 |
| Oklahoma City | 19 | $179,990 | 90.4 |
| Phoenix | 19 | $169,720 | 103.3 |
| Portland | 19 | $375,810 | 105.4 |
| St. Louis | 19 | $202,840 | 95.1 |
| Washington DC | 19 | $195,190 | 108.9 |
| Boston | 18 | $214,960 | 108.3 |
| Cincinnati | 18 | $207,170 | 95.4 |
| Denver | 18 | $203,340 | 105.8 |
| Hartford | 18 | $171,350 | 102.7 |
| Jacksonville | 18 | $169,010 | 99.5 |
| Las Vegas | 18 | $190,480 | 100.2 |
| Louisville | 18 | $213,920 | 93.1 |
| Nashville | 18 | $218,190 | 96.3 |
| Pittsburgh | 18 | $216,060 | 94.7 |
| Raleigh | 18 | $173,960 | 98.2 |
| Richmond | 18 | $326,160 | 97.9 |
| Riverside | 18 | $176,700 | 106.4 |
| Salt Lake City | 18 | $190,400 | 100.9 |
| San Diego | 18 | $238,440 | 111.9 |
| San Jose | 18 | $291,660 | 110.4 |
| Kansas City | 17 | $221,640 | 92.5 |
| Memphis | 17 | $196,680 | 92.2 |
| Miami | 17 | $169,600 | 114.2 |
| Milwaukee | 17 | $161,220 | 96.9 |
| Orlando | 17 | $171,210 | 101.4 |
| Providence | 17 | $243,620 | 101.8 |
| Tampa | 17 | $168,470 | 100.9 |
| Buffalo | 16 | $172,650 | 95.8 |
| Virginia Beach | 16 | $297,350 | 97.9 |
| Birmingham | 15 | $153,930 | 91.6 |
| New Orleans | 12 | $147,980 | 92.6 |
Why metro-level pay matters more than state or national
Compensation is set in local labor markets, not national averages. A role can pay 30% more in one metro than another, and cost of living can erase or amplify that gap. The cost-of-living column (BEA regional price parities, U.S. = 100) shows how far a wage actually stretches locally.
Every figure is an occupational wage benchmark across all workers in the metro, from the BLS OEWS program — not an MBA-specific outcome. See our methodology for how we gate and label data.
Frequently asked questions
Which U.S. metros have the highest MBA-relevant salaries?
Among the 49 major metros we benchmark, the highest nominal medians tend to appear in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Washington, D.C. — but those are also the most expensive, so the cost-of-living-adjusted ranking often looks very different. Each metro page shows both.
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Every figure on SalaryMBA is source-labeled. See our methodology for how we source and gate data.