Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of direct support professional salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest direct support professional salary of $54,935
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North Carolina has the lowest direct support professional salary of $23,789
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The national average salary for direct support professionals is $32,077
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The national hourly pay for direct support professionals is $15.42
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 direct support professionals 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 direct support professional 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 direct support professionals after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for direct support professional salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Direct Support Professionals By State
| Rank | State | Average Direct Support Professional Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $54,935 | $27,000 | $108,000 |
| 2 | Hawaii | $42,775 | $34,000 | $53,000 |
| 3 | Arizona | $41,250 | $23,000 | $73,000 |
| 4 | Nevada | $40,140 | $21,000 | $76,000 |
| 5 | Alaska | $37,897 | $30,000 | $47,000 |
| 6 | Washington | $36,222 | $22,000 | $57,000 |
| 7 | Oregon | $36,088 | $21,000 | $61,000 |
| 8 | Texas | $35,265 | $21,000 | $57,000 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $34,731 | $22,000 | $52,000 |
| 10 | New York | $32,995 | $20,000 | $53,000 |
| 11 | North Dakota | $32,924 | $25,000 | $42,000 |
| 12 | Connecticut | $32,838 | $20,000 | $52,000 |
| 13 | Vermont | $32,526 | $23,000 | $44,000 |
| 14 | New Jersey | $32,416 | $19,000 | $53,000 |
| 15 | New Hampshire | $31,846 | $21,000 | $46,000 |
| 16 | Rhode Island | $31,263 | $19,000 | $48,000 |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | $30,358 | $18,000 | $49,000 |
| 18 | New Mexico | $30,120 | $18,000 | $50,000 |
| 19 | Maine | $29,992 | $22,000 | $39,000 |
| 20 | Michigan | $29,805 | $20,000 | $43,000 |
| 21 | Maryland | $29,754 | $18,000 | $47,000 |
| 22 | Idaho | $29,670 | $18,000 | $46,000 |
| 23 | Minnesota | $29,593 | $21,000 | $40,000 |
| 24 | West Virginia | $29,111 | $19,000 | $43,000 |
| 25 | Oklahoma | $28,956 | $19,000 | $43,000 |
| 26 | South Dakota | $28,837 | $20,000 | $39,000 |
| 27 | Colorado | $28,345 | $19,000 | $41,000 |
| 28 | Alabama | $28,064 | $18,000 | $42,000 |
| 29 | Delaware | $27,858 | $16,000 | $45,000 |
| 30 | Utah | $27,633 | $16,000 | $44,000 |
| 31 | Florida | $27,612 | $17,000 | $44,000 |
| 32 | Montana | $27,492 | $19,000 | $38,000 |
| 33 | Illinois | $27,289 | $19,000 | $38,000 |
| 34 | Wisconsin | $26,994 | $19,000 | $37,000 |
| 35 | Virginia | $26,583 | $16,000 | $41,000 |
| 36 | Ohio | $26,456 | $17,000 | $39,000 |
| 37 | Kentucky | $26,233 | $18,000 | $38,000 |
| 38 | Missouri | $26,107 | $17,000 | $37,000 |
| 39 | South Carolina | $25,972 | $17,000 | $38,000 |
| 40 | Iowa | $25,814 | $18,000 | $36,000 |
| 41 | Indiana | $25,754 | $17,000 | $36,000 |
| 42 | Nebraska | $25,688 | $18,000 | $36,000 |
| 43 | Georgia | $25,356 | $16,000 | $38,000 |
| 44 | Wyoming | $25,253 | $17,000 | $36,000 |
| 45 | Louisiana | $25,186 | $15,000 | $40,000 |
| 46 | Kansas | $24,454 | $16,000 | $35,000 |
| 47 | Tennessee | $24,372 | $16,000 | $35,000 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $24,083 | $16,000 | $35,000 |
| 49 | Mississippi | $23,893 | $15,000 | $37,000 |
| 50 | North Carolina | $23,789 | $15,000 | $35,000 |
Methodology: Direct Support Professional Salary By State
To better understand direct support professional 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 direct support professionals by state.
We took the average annual salary data for direct support professionals from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for direct support professionals.
Direct Support Professional Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for direct support professionals?
The highest-paid state for direct support professionals is California with an average salary of $54,935 per year.
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What city pays direct support professionals the most?
Santa Clara, CA pays direct support professionals the most with an average salary of $60,753 per year.
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What is the worst state for direct support professionals?
The worst state for direct support professionals is North Carolina with an average salary of $23,789 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.
