Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of adjunct professor salary by state for the United States:
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Rhode Island has the highest adjunct professor salary of $129,569
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Kentucky has the lowest adjunct professor salary of $50,501
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The national average salary for adjunct professors is $98,821
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The national hourly pay for adjunct professors is $47.51
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 adjunct professors 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 adjunct professor 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 adjunct professors after this adjustment? That would be Rhode Island.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for adjunct professor salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Adjunct Professors By State
| Rank | State | Average Adjunct Professor Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island | $129,569 | $74,000 | $226,000 |
| 2 | New York | $126,977 | $71,000 | $224,000 |
| 3 | Connecticut | $125,617 | $70,000 | $222,000 |
| 4 | Maine | $120,705 | $68,000 | $213,000 |
| 5 | New Jersey | $116,137 | $63,000 | $212,000 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $116,057 | $64,000 | $209,000 |
| 7 | Alaska | $109,986 | $67,000 | $178,000 |
| 8 | Delaware | $108,380 | $57,000 | $203,000 |
| 9 | Oregon | $107,793 | $60,000 | $191,000 |
| 10 | California | $107,618 | $57,000 | $201,000 |
| 11 | Vermont | $103,111 | $55,000 | $191,000 |
| 12 | Utah | $102,831 | $55,000 | $190,000 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | $101,154 | $54,000 | $189,000 |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | $95,311 | $49,000 | $185,000 |
| 15 | South Carolina | $92,548 | $47,000 | $181,000 |
| 16 | Maryland | $92,341 | $46,000 | $182,000 |
| 17 | Washington | $91,770 | $50,000 | $166,000 |
| 18 | Ohio | $88,563 | $45,000 | $173,000 |
| 19 | Nebraska | $88,241 | $47,000 | $165,000 |
| 20 | West Virginia | $87,897 | $44,000 | $174,000 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | $85,587 | $44,000 | $162,000 |
| 22 | Nevada | $82,683 | $41,000 | $165,000 |
| 23 | Virginia | $82,291 | $40,000 | $168,000 |
| 24 | Montana | $82,283 | $44,000 | $151,000 |
| 25 | Iowa | $79,293 | $41,000 | $150,000 |
| 26 | Arizona | $78,497 | $38,000 | $160,000 |
| 27 | New Mexico | $76,994 | $38,000 | $155,000 |
| 28 | Michigan | $73,599 | $36,000 | $148,000 |
| 29 | North Carolina | $73,549 | $35,000 | $152,000 |
| 30 | Texas | $72,837 | $35,000 | $151,000 |
| 31 | Colorado | $72,509 | $37,000 | $141,000 |
| 32 | Mississippi | $72,271 | $35,000 | $146,000 |
| 33 | Arkansas | $71,924 | $36,000 | $143,000 |
| 34 | Missouri | $70,643 | $35,000 | $139,000 |
| 35 | Alabama | $69,999 | $34,000 | $142,000 |
| 36 | North Dakota | $69,569 | $38,000 | $126,000 |
| 37 | Minnesota | $69,393 | $36,000 | $131,000 |
| 38 | Florida | $67,700 | $32,000 | $142,000 |
| 39 | Louisiana | $66,543 | $31,000 | $138,000 |
| 40 | Indiana | $64,079 | $31,000 | $130,000 |
| 41 | Illinois | $61,153 | $30,000 | $122,000 |
| 42 | Georgia | $58,985 | $27,000 | $124,000 |
| 43 | Idaho | $58,082 | $29,000 | $113,000 |
| 44 | Tennessee | $57,079 | $27,000 | $118,000 |
| 45 | Hawaii | $55,476 | $26,000 | $114,000 |
| 46 | Wyoming | $55,386 | $28,000 | $106,000 |
| 47 | Kansas | $54,916 | $27,000 | $109,000 |
| 48 | Oklahoma | $54,272 | $26,000 | $110,000 |
| 49 | South Dakota | $52,630 | $28,000 | $98,000 |
| 50 | Kentucky | $50,501 | $24,000 | $105,000 |
Methodology: Adjunct Professor Salary By State
To better understand adjunct professor 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 adjunct professors by state.
We took the average annual salary data for adjunct professors from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for adjunct professors.
Adjunct Professor Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for adjunct professors?
The highest-paid state for adjunct professors is Rhode Island with an average salary of $129,569 per year.
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What city pays adjunct professors the most?
Providence, RI pays adjunct professors the most with an average salary of $143,708 per year.
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What is the worst state for adjunct professors?
The worst state for adjunct professors is Kentucky with an average salary of $50,501 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.
