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Benefit Specialists are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as benefit specialists in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since benefit specialists are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where benefit specialists 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 benefit specialists.
After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s benefit specialists:
So there you have it — Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists is the best of the best when it comes to being a benefit specialist.
How did Compensation, Benefits, And Job Analysis Specialists end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for benefit specialists and for more on the top ten states.
If youâre interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
- These Are The 10 Best Small Companies to Work For in Minneapolis
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Minneapolis
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Minnesota
How we determined the best states to be a benefit specialist
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
- Higher Pay
So in order to find out the best states for benefit specialists in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well benefit specialists get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2016:
- 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 benefit specialists in California is $72,930 and the average salary in Illinois is $67,570, 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 benefit specialists in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for benefit specialists.
1. Minnesota
Total Jobs: 1,870
Average Annual Salary: $75,100
Average Entry Level Salary: $47,720
Average Experienced Salary: $115,840
Location Quotient: 1.18
2. Texas
Total Jobs: 5,730
Average Annual Salary: $68,360
Average Entry Level Salary: $39,630
Average Experienced Salary: $105,500
Location Quotient: 0.86
3. Washington
Total Jobs: 1,720
Average Annual Salary: $74,170
Average Entry Level Salary: $44,490
Average Experienced Salary: $116,590
Location Quotient: 0.99
4. Georgia
Total Jobs: 2,760
Average Annual Salary: $65,670
Average Entry Level Salary: $33,680
Average Experienced Salary: $103,600
Location Quotient: 1.16
5. North Carolina
Total Jobs: 2,450
Average Annual Salary: $63,130
Average Entry Level Salary: $39,240
Average Experienced Salary: $101,470
Location Quotient: 1.03
6. Michigan
Total Jobs: 1,620
Average Annual Salary: $64,950
Average Entry Level Salary: $41,890
Average Experienced Salary: $95,060
Location Quotient: 0.68
7. Nebraska
Total Jobs: 570
Average Annual Salary: $62,680
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,370
Average Experienced Salary: $89,760
Location Quotient: 1.04
8. Delaware
Total Jobs: 170
Average Annual Salary: $72,170
Average Entry Level Salary: $42,910
Average Experienced Salary: $118,780
Location Quotient: 0.67
9. Missouri
Total Jobs: 1,420
Average Annual Salary: $63,940
Average Entry Level Salary: $34,390
Average Experienced Salary: $108,050
Location Quotient: 0.91
10. Illinois
Total Jobs: 2,650
Average Annual Salary: $67,570
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,920
Average Experienced Salary: $101,230
Location Quotient: 0.8
There You Have It – The Best States To Be A Benefit Specialist
If you’re looking to start out your career as a benefit specialist 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 benefit specialist in America:
For more reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best States For benefit specialists
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota | $75,100 |
| 2 | Texas | $68,360 |
| 3 | Washington | $74,170 |
| 4 | Georgia | $65,670 |
| 5 | North Carolina | $63,130 |
| 6 | Michigan | $64,950 |
| 7 | Nebraska | $62,680 |
| 8 | Delaware | $72,170 |
| 9 | Missouri | $63,940 |
| 10 | Illinois | $67,570 |
| 11 | Tennessee | $59,740 |
| 12 | Colorado | $70,770 |
| 13 | Pennsylvania | $66,320 |
| 14 | Ohio | $60,730 |
| 15 | Iowa | $63,110 |
| 16 | Alabama | $62,080 |
| 17 | Virginia | $65,530 |
| 18 | Kansas | $61,050 |
| 19 | New Jersey | $75,100 |
| 20 | Kentucky | $57,290 |
| 21 | Oklahoma | $56,790 |
| 22 | Wyoming | $59,930 |
| 23 | Rhode Island | $74,540 |
| 24 | Maryland | $73,190 |
| 25 | Connecticut | $77,790 |
| 26 | New Mexico | $61,120 |
| 27 | Arizona | $57,050 |
| 28 | Wisconsin | $56,190 |
| 29 | Mississippi | $51,960 |
| 30 | Indiana | $53,340 |
| 31 | Florida | $58,240 |
| 32 | New York | $73,590 |
| 33 | Idaho | $56,130 |
| 34 | Utah | $53,680 |
| 35 | California | $72,930 |
| 36 | Arkansas | $47,690 |
| 37 | South Dakota | $52,220 |
| 38 | North Dakota | $58,530 |
| 39 | Alaska | $72,620 |
| 40 | Oregon | $64,080 |
| 41 | Montana | $56,490 |
| 42 | West Virginia | $53,280 |
| 43 | Maine | $57,920 |
| 44 | Massachusetts | $68,600 |
| 45 | Vermont | $61,690 |
| 46 | Nevada | $58,910 |
| 47 | Louisiana | $44,660 |
| 48 | New Hampshire | $62,720 |
| 49 | South Carolina | $50,220 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $52,820 |
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.
