Find a Job You Really Want In
Adjunct Professors are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as adjunct professors in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since adjunct professors are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where adjunct professors have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around, and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for adjunct professors. After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s adjunct professors:
So there you have it — Nebraska is the best of the best when it comes to being a adjunct professors.
How did it end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for adjunct professors and for more on the top ten states.
How we determined the best states to be a adjunct professor
Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:
- Availability of jobs
- Pay
So in order to find out the best states for adjunct professors in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well adjunct professors get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:
- Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
- Average annual salary.
- Average annual salary for entry level work.
- Average annual salary for experienced professionals.
To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across states, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.
Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for adjunct professors in California is $117,430 and the average salary in Oregon is $0, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.
In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.
We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a Job Score with the state having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best state for adjunct professors in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for adjunct professors.
1. Nebraska
Total Jobs: 1,800
Average Annual Salary: $93,060
Average Entry Level Salary: $44,800
Average Experienced Salary: $153,600
Location Quotient: 1.46
2. Iowa
Total Jobs: 2,580
Average Annual Salary: $139,770
Average Entry Level Salary: $51,740
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.3
3. New Mexico
Total Jobs: 1,340
Average Annual Salary: $135,740
Average Entry Level Salary: $56,160
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.29
4. Oklahoma
Total Jobs: 3,060
Average Annual Salary: $84,500
Average Entry Level Salary: $41,010
Average Experienced Salary: $132,300
Location Quotient: 1.48
5. Mississippi
Total Jobs: 1,420
Average Annual Salary: $158,370
Average Entry Level Salary: $56,810
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.99
6. Utah
Total Jobs: 2,480
Average Annual Salary: $140,210
Average Entry Level Salary: $45,090
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.44
7. Michigan
Total Jobs: 5,520
Average Annual Salary: $140,200
Average Entry Level Salary: $46,240
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.03
8. Washington
Total Jobs: 3,300
Average Annual Salary: $138,630
Average Entry Level Salary: $68,650
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.85
9. Wisconsin
Total Jobs: 5,400
Average Annual Salary: $113,720
Average Entry Level Salary: $44,130
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.5
10. North Carolina
Total Jobs: 9,740
Average Annual Salary: $125,850
Average Entry Level Salary: $35,260
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.82
There You Have It
If you’re looking to start out your career as a adjunct professor these are the states that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.
If you’re curious, here are the worst states to be a adjunct professor in America:
Detailed List Of The Best States For Adjunct Professors
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska | $93,060 |
| 2 | Iowa | $139,770 |
| 3 | New Mexico | $135,740 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | $84,500 |
| 5 | Mississippi | $158,370 |
| 6 | Utah | $140,210 |
| 7 | Michigan | $140,200 |
| 8 | Washington | $138,630 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | $113,720 |
| 10 | North Carolina | $125,850 |
| 11 | Kansas | $90,930 |
| 12 | Connecticut | $155,820 |
| 13 | Colorado | $133,470 |
| 14 | Indiana | $120,620 |
| 15 | Arizona | $126,290 |
| 16 | Missouri | $116,270 |
| 17 | Oregon | $140,010 |
| 18 | North Dakota | $101,450 |
| 19 | Kentucky | $70,220 |
| 20 | Delaware | $87,730 |
| 21 | Idaho | $99,460 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $86,560 |
| 23 | New Hampshire | $121,240 |
| 24 | Ohio | $107,800 |
| 25 | New York | $120,140 |
| 26 | West Virginia | $59,720 |
| 27 | Texas | $109,050 |
| 28 | Massachusetts | $122,540 |
| 29 | Minnesota | $100,510 |
| 30 | South Dakota | $79,800 |
| 31 | Tennessee | $84,520 |
| 32 | South Carolina | $70,790 |
| 33 | Arkansas | $110,500 |
| 34 | Florida | $75,190 |
| 35 | Wyoming | $66,010 |
| 36 | Rhode Island | $87,300 |
| 37 | Virginia | $91,170 |
| 38 | New Jersey | $108,740 |
| 39 | Nevada | $114,660 |
| 40 | California | $117,430 |
| 41 | Montana | $58,940 |
| 42 | Alaska | $74,430 |
| 43 | Vermont | $54,810 |
| 44 | Illinois | $0 |
| 45 | Maine | $0 |
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.
