These Are The 10 Best States For Retail Salespersons

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Retail Salespersons are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as retail salespersons in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.

Since retail salespersons are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where retail salespersons 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 retail salespersons. After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of the best for America’s retail salespersons:

So there you have it — South Dakota is the best of the best when it comes to being a retail salespersons. 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 retail salespersons and for more on the top ten states.

How we determined the best states to be a retail salespersons?

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 retail salespersons in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well retail salespersons get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Beaureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is in 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 from MIT’s living wage index. Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that while the average salary for Retail Salespersons in California is $57,315 and the average salary in Illinois is $52,304, 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 Retail Salespersons in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for retail salespersons.

1. South Dakota

Total Jobs: 16,040
Average Annual Salary: $27,800
Average Entry Level Salary: $18,280
Average Experienced Salary: $45,440
Location Quotient: 1.16

2. Idaho

Total Jobs: 23,210
Average Annual Salary: $27,070
Average Entry Level Salary: $16,640
Average Experienced Salary: $43,410
Location Quotient: 1.08

3. Washington

Total Jobs: 105,910
Average Annual Salary: $29,980
Average Entry Level Salary: $20,230
Average Experienced Salary: $44,840
Location Quotient: 1.06

4. North Dakota

Total Jobs: 14,060
Average Annual Salary: $30,740
Average Entry Level Salary: $17,490
Average Experienced Salary: $50,790
Location Quotient: 0.94

5. Montana

Total Jobs: 15,470
Average Annual Salary: $27,130
Average Entry Level Salary: $17,720
Average Experienced Salary: $39,210
Location Quotient: 1.03

6. Mississippi

Total Jobs: 40,990
Average Annual Salary: $25,350
Average Entry Level Salary: $16,430
Average Experienced Salary: $39,380
Location Quotient: 1.11

7. Alabama

Total Jobs: 59,620
Average Annual Salary: $25,990
Average Entry Level Salary: $16,500
Average Experienced Salary: $42,370
Location Quotient: 0.95

8. Oregon

Total Jobs: 63,090
Average Annual Salary: $27,460
Average Entry Level Salary: $19,650
Average Experienced Salary: $39,090
Location Quotient: 1.09

9. Nebraska

Total Jobs: 29,430
Average Annual Salary: $27,240
Average Entry Level Salary: $17,400
Average Experienced Salary: $45,760
Location Quotient: 0.92

10. Arkansas

Total Jobs: 38,980
Average Annual Salary: $24,380
Average Entry Level Salary: $16,460
Average Experienced Salary: $38,370
Location Quotient: 0.99

There You Have It

If you’re looking to start out your career as a retail salespersons 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 aretail salespersons in America:

Detailed List Of The Best States For Retail Salespersons

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	South Dakota	$27,800	$18,280	16,040
2	Idaho	$27,070	$16,640	23,210
3	Washington	$29,980	$20,230	105,910
4	North Dakota	$30,740	$17,490	14,060
5	Montana	$27,130	$17,720	15,470
6	Mississippi	$25,350	$16,430	40,990
7	Alabama	$25,990	$16,500	59,620
8	Oregon	$27,460	$19,650	63,090
9	Nebraska	$27,240	$17,400	29,430
10	Arkansas	$24,380	$16,460	38,980
11	Texas	$26,710	$16,550	390,580
12	Rhode Island	$31,020	$19,050	14,350
13	Wyoming	$28,070	$17,000	8,500
14	Kentucky	$24,360	$16,330	54,950
15	Vermont	$28,830	$19,400	9,330
16	New Mexico	$25,860	$17,070	28,470
17	Ohio	$25,760	$17,540	162,130
18	Missouri	$25,590	$16,830	85,500
19	Tennessee	$25,750	$16,480	91,850
20	Michigan	$25,800	$17,610	144,300
21	Oklahoma	$25,830	$16,460	50,460
22	Utah	$26,000	$16,450	43,300
23	South Carolina	$24,150	$16,410	69,290
24	West Virginia	$23,560	$17,210	22,990
25	Colorado	$28,360	$17,960	81,470
26	Indiana	$24,770	$16,380	92,490
27	Kansas	$25,790	$16,500	40,580
28	Pennsylvania	$26,350	$16,580	189,360
29	Georgia	$24,270	$16,340	142,150
30	North Carolina	$25,630	$16,460	141,230
31	Florida	$25,140	$17,480	337,140
32	Illinois	$26,700	$18,250	189,220
33	Alaska	$27,940	$19,750	10,570
34	Maine	$25,660	$17,130	20,530
35	Louisiana	$24,430	$16,500	61,710
36	Delaware	$25,370	$17,170	17,550
37	Iowa	$25,850	$16,460	44,800
38	Arizona	$24,900	$17,600	90,150
39	New Hampshire	$26,310	$16,750	27,720
40	Nevada	$25,480	$16,780	50,990
41	Minnesota	$25,480	$17,420	88,670
42	New York	$27,150	$18,550	324,680
43	New Jersey	$26,780	$18,120	136,370
44	Wisconsin	$24,970	$16,430	89,180
45	Hawaii	$26,860	$17,630	24,770
46	California	$28,430	$19,080	452,990
47	Virginia	$24,400	$16,530	128,150
48	Massachusetts	$27,110	$19,050	114,570
49	Connecticut	$27,950	$19,260	52,950
50	Maryland	$26,220	$17,400	73,300

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

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.

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