Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of business owner salary by state for the United States:
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Washington has the highest business owner salary of $120,339
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Mississippi has the lowest business owner salary of $40,281
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The national average salary for business owners is $50,934
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The national hourly pay for business owners is $24.49
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 business owners 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 business owner 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 business owners after this adjustment? That would be Washington.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for business owner salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Business Owners By State
| Rank | State | Average Business Owner Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $120,339 | $80,000 | $179,000 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $110,331 | $71,000 | $169,000 |
| 3 | New York | $109,284 | $71,000 | $167,000 |
| 4 | California | $102,886 | $62,000 | $169,000 |
| 5 | Connecticut | $99,694 | $65,000 | $152,000 |
| 6 | Rhode Island | $97,770 | $64,000 | $148,000 |
| 7 | Colorado | $97,650 | $62,000 | $152,000 |
| 8 | Delaware | $96,002 | $60,000 | $151,000 |
| 9 | South Dakota | $94,551 | $64,000 | $138,000 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | $92,646 | $59,000 | $144,000 |
| 11 | Oregon | $92,421 | $61,000 | $139,000 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | $91,688 | $60,000 | $138,000 |
| 13 | Minnesota | $88,999 | $61,000 | $129,000 |
| 14 | Maryland | $87,549 | $54,000 | $139,000 |
| 15 | Massachusetts | $86,852 | $57,000 | $131,000 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $86,006 | $57,000 | $129,000 |
| 17 | Virginia | $83,950 | $50,000 | $139,000 |
| 18 | Michigan | $82,706 | $53,000 | $127,000 |
| 19 | Illinois | $82,107 | $52,000 | $127,000 |
| 20 | Nevada | $81,892 | $50,000 | $132,000 |
| 21 | Montana | $79,535 | $55,000 | $113,000 |
| 22 | Maine | $77,525 | $51,000 | $117,000 |
| 23 | Ohio | $77,448 | $48,000 | $124,000 |
| 24 | North Dakota | $75,903 | $54,000 | $106,000 |
| 25 | Alaska | $75,597 | $61,000 | $93,000 |
| 26 | Arizona | $74,532 | $43,000 | $127,000 |
| 27 | Wyoming | $74,104 | $49,000 | $110,000 |
| 28 | Idaho | $73,981 | $49,000 | $111,000 |
| 29 | Utah | $71,018 | $46,000 | $108,000 |
| 30 | Nebraska | $69,255 | $44,000 | $107,000 |
| 31 | Iowa | $68,210 | $44,000 | $105,000 |
| 32 | Indiana | $67,811 | $41,000 | $110,000 |
| 33 | Vermont | $67,008 | $44,000 | $101,000 |
| 34 | New Mexico | $66,190 | $38,000 | $112,000 |
| 35 | North Carolina | $61,219 | $35,000 | $106,000 |
| 36 | Missouri | $60,703 | $36,000 | $100,000 |
| 37 | Texas | $60,144 | $33,000 | $107,000 |
| 38 | Kansas | $59,837 | $36,000 | $97,000 |
| 39 | West Virginia | $58,739 | $35,000 | $97,000 |
| 40 | Oklahoma | $55,202 | $32,000 | $94,000 |
| 41 | Tennessee | $54,976 | $31,000 | $96,000 |
| 42 | Louisiana | $53,597 | $30,000 | $95,000 |
| 43 | Hawaii | $53,573 | $41,000 | $69,000 |
| 44 | Alabama | $53,328 | $30,000 | $94,000 |
| 45 | Georgia | $50,596 | $28,000 | $90,000 |
| 46 | Kentucky | $50,471 | $29,000 | $85,000 |
| 47 | South Carolina | $48,507 | $27,000 | $86,000 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $46,965 | $26,000 | $81,000 |
| 49 | Florida | $42,325 | $24,000 | $71,000 |
| 50 | Mississippi | $40,281 | $22,000 | $71,000 |
Methodology: Business Owner Salary By State
To better understand business owner 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 business owners by state.
We took the average annual salary data for business owners from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for business owners.
Business Owner Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for business owners?
The highest-paid state for business owners is Washington with an average salary of $120,339 per year.
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What city pays business owners the most?
Seattle, WA pays business owners the most with an average salary of $121,623 per year.
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What is the worst state for business owners?
The worst state for business owners is Mississippi with an average salary of $40,281 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.
