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Compliance Officers are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as compliance officers in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since compliance officers are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where compliance officers 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 compliance officers.
After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s compliance officers:
So there you have it — Compliance Officers is the best of the best when it comes to being a compliance officer.
How did Compliance Officers end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for compliance officers and for more on the top ten states.
If youâre interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
- 20 Best Companies To Work For In Seattle, WA
- These Are The 10 Companies That Are Hiring The Most In Seattle
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Seattle
How we determined the best states to be a compliance officer
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 compliance officers in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well compliance officers 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 compliance officers in California is $79,340 and the average salary in Illinois is $71,350, 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 compliance officers in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for compliance officers.
1. Washington
Total Jobs: 7,950
Average Annual Salary: $83,060
Average Entry Level Salary: $45,660
Average Experienced Salary: $136,080
Location Quotient: 1.33
2. Texas
Total Jobs: 23,760
Average Annual Salary: $73,170
Average Entry Level Salary: $39,950
Average Experienced Salary: $106,180
Location Quotient: 1.04
3. Nebraska
Total Jobs: 2,900
Average Annual Salary: $64,880
Average Entry Level Salary: $37,710
Average Experienced Salary: $95,710
Location Quotient: 1.54
4. Delaware
Total Jobs: 990
Average Annual Salary: $73,990
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,450
Average Experienced Salary: $119,250
Location Quotient: 1.15
5. Virginia
Total Jobs: 7,520
Average Annual Salary: $74,290
Average Entry Level Salary: $40,780
Average Experienced Salary: $114,290
Location Quotient: 1.03
6. Wyoming
Total Jobs: 400
Average Annual Salary: $68,520
Average Entry Level Salary: $42,410
Average Experienced Salary: $105,750
Location Quotient: 0.74
7. Illinois
Total Jobs: 8,200
Average Annual Salary: $71,350
Average Entry Level Salary: $39,720
Average Experienced Salary: $104,180
Location Quotient: 0.71
8. Michigan
Total Jobs: 5,640
Average Annual Salary: $68,540
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,380
Average Experienced Salary: $96,320
Location Quotient: 0.69
9. Colorado
Total Jobs: 5,080
Average Annual Salary: $71,370
Average Entry Level Salary: $41,060
Average Experienced Salary: $107,300
Location Quotient: 1.04
10. Minnesota
Total Jobs: 4,870
Average Annual Salary: $73,030
Average Entry Level Salary: $46,670
Average Experienced Salary: $103,710
Location Quotient: 0.89
There You Have It – The Best States To Be A Compliance Officer
If you’re looking to start out your career as a compliance officer 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 compliance officer in America:
For more reading, check out:
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Washington
- These Are The 100 Largest Companies In Washington
Detailed List Of The Best States For compliance officers
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $83,060 |
| 2 | Texas | $73,170 |
| 3 | Nebraska | $64,880 |
| 4 | Delaware | $73,990 |
| 5 | Virginia | $74,290 |
| 6 | Wyoming | $68,520 |
| 7 | Illinois | $71,350 |
| 8 | Michigan | $68,540 |
| 9 | Colorado | $71,370 |
| 10 | Minnesota | $73,030 |
| 11 | North Carolina | $68,400 |
| 12 | New Jersey | $79,860 |
| 13 | Alabama | $67,100 |
| 14 | Utah | $63,100 |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | $67,390 |
| 16 | Louisiana | $61,690 |
| 17 | Connecticut | $82,610 |
| 18 | Iowa | $62,190 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | $56,150 |
| 20 | Georgia | $61,170 |
| 21 | Missouri | $59,810 |
| 22 | Kansas | $57,890 |
| 23 | Tennessee | $60,450 |
| 24 | New Mexico | $63,800 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | $61,130 |
| 26 | Massachusetts | $83,030 |
| 27 | Indiana | $58,970 |
| 28 | Mississippi | $53,810 |
| 29 | Ohio | $60,460 |
| 30 | Nevada | $65,040 |
| 31 | Idaho | $58,540 |
| 32 | Montana | $59,760 |
| 33 | Florida | $61,230 |
| 34 | North Dakota | $61,440 |
| 35 | New York | $76,930 |
| 36 | Maryland | $73,830 |
| 37 | Arkansas | $52,840 |
| 38 | California | $79,340 |
| 39 | South Dakota | $55,310 |
| 40 | Rhode Island | $73,660 |
| 41 | Alaska | $75,100 |
| 42 | Vermont | $65,940 |
| 43 | Kentucky | $56,150 |
| 44 | Oregon | $66,460 |
| 45 | New Hampshire | $66,410 |
| 46 | West Virginia | $53,600 |
| 47 | Maine | $63,570 |
| 48 | South Carolina | $57,410 |
| 49 | Hawaii | $67,160 |
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.
