Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of specialist salary by state for the United States:
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New Jersey has the highest specialist salary of $73,913
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Maine has the lowest specialist salary of $38,829
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The national average salary for specialists is $58,013
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The national hourly pay for specialists is $27.89
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do specialists get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for specialist by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for specialists after this adjustment? That would be New Jersey.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for specialist salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Specialists By State
| Rank | State | Average Specialist Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey | $73,913 | $40,000 | $133,000 |
| 2 | New York | $71,852 | $39,000 | $129,000 |
| 3 | Delaware | $70,439 | $38,000 | $128,000 |
| 4 | California | $66,682 | $35,000 | $125,000 |
| 5 | Connecticut | $65,192 | $36,000 | $116,000 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | $65,019 | $35,000 | $118,000 |
| 7 | Texas | $63,714 | $34,000 | $118,000 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $62,747 | $35,000 | $110,000 |
| 9 | Virginia | $62,248 | $33,000 | $115,000 |
| 10 | Illinois | $59,163 | $32,000 | $106,000 |
| 11 | North Carolina | $56,880 | $31,000 | $103,000 |
| 12 | Michigan | $56,047 | $30,000 | $102,000 |
| 13 | Maryland | $55,047 | $29,000 | $101,000 |
| 14 | West Virginia | $54,650 | $29,000 | $100,000 |
| 15 | Hawaii | $53,246 | $37,000 | $76,000 |
| 16 | Georgia | $51,834 | $28,000 | $93,000 |
| 17 | Nevada | $50,000 | $26,000 | $93,000 |
| 18 | Ohio | $49,864 | $27,000 | $91,000 |
| 19 | New Mexico | $49,649 | $26,000 | $91,000 |
| 20 | Rhode Island | $49,320 | $27,000 | $87,000 |
| 21 | Arizona | $49,064 | $26,000 | $91,000 |
| 22 | Washington | $48,267 | $27,000 | $84,000 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | $47,763 | $26,000 | $85,000 |
| 24 | Louisiana | $47,655 | $25,000 | $88,000 |
| 25 | Minnesota | $47,467 | $27,000 | $82,000 |
| 26 | Mississippi | $47,466 | $26,000 | $86,000 |
| 27 | Alabama | $46,539 | $25,000 | $84,000 |
| 28 | Indiana | $46,242 | $25,000 | $83,000 |
| 29 | Florida | $44,652 | $24,000 | $80,000 |
| 30 | Oregon | $44,265 | $24,000 | $78,000 |
| 31 | South Carolina | $43,592 | $24,000 | $78,000 |
| 32 | New Hampshire | $43,561 | $25,000 | $75,000 |
| 33 | North Dakota | $43,519 | $26,000 | $72,000 |
| 34 | Kentucky | $43,469 | $24,000 | $78,000 |
| 35 | Alaska | $43,100 | $28,000 | $66,000 |
| 36 | Tennessee | $42,650 | $23,000 | $76,000 |
| 37 | Missouri | $42,565 | $23,000 | $76,000 |
| 38 | Colorado | $42,406 | $24,000 | $74,000 |
| 39 | Oklahoma | $42,400 | $23,000 | $76,000 |
| 40 | Arkansas | $42,203 | $23,000 | $75,000 |
| 41 | Vermont | $41,900 | $24,000 | $72,000 |
| 42 | Iowa | $41,281 | $23,000 | $73,000 |
| 43 | Utah | $41,092 | $23,000 | $72,000 |
| 44 | Kansas | $41,039 | $22,000 | $73,000 |
| 45 | Idaho | $40,604 | $23,000 | $70,000 |
| 46 | Nebraska | $40,044 | $22,000 | $70,000 |
| 47 | Wyoming | $39,933 | $23,000 | $68,000 |
| 48 | South Dakota | $39,757 | $23,000 | $68,000 |
| 49 | Montana | $38,852 | $23,000 | $65,000 |
| 50 | Maine | $38,829 | $22,000 | $65,000 |
Methodology: Specialist Salary By State
To better understand specialist pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for specialists by state.
We took the average annual salary data for specialists from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for specialists.
Specialist Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for specialists?
The highest-paid state for specialists is New Jersey with an average salary of $73,913 per year.
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What city pays specialists the most?
Jersey City, NJ pays specialists the most with an average salary of $73,692 per year.
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What is the worst state for specialists?
The worst state for specialists is Maine with an average salary of $38,829 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
