Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of fellow salary by state for the United States:
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Tennessee has the highest fellow salary of $94,634
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North Dakota has the lowest fellow salary of $44,690
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The national average salary for fellows is $66,364
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The national hourly pay for fellows is $31.91
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 fellows 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 fellow 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 fellows after this adjustment? That would be Tennessee.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for fellow salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Fellows By State
| Rank | State | Average Fellow Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tennessee | $94,634 | $62,000 | $143,000 |
| 2 | Connecticut | $81,389 | $58,000 | $114,000 |
| 3 | California | $79,879 | $53,000 | $119,000 |
| 4 | Rhode Island | $78,492 | $56,000 | $109,000 |
| 5 | Maine | $77,590 | $56,000 | $106,000 |
| 6 | New Jersey | $77,138 | $54,000 | $109,000 |
| 7 | Arizona | $74,523 | $49,000 | $113,000 |
| 8 | Idaho | $74,239 | $51,000 | $107,000 |
| 9 | Hawaii | $74,084 | $59,000 | $92,000 |
| 10 | Indiana | $73,104 | $50,000 | $106,000 |
| 11 | Delaware | $72,044 | $50,000 | $103,000 |
| 12 | Massachusetts | $71,549 | $51,000 | $98,000 |
| 13 | New York | $70,101 | $49,000 | $98,000 |
| 14 | Illinois | $69,389 | $48,000 | $99,000 |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | $68,438 | $47,000 | $97,000 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | $68,188 | $48,000 | $96,000 |
| 17 | Minnesota | $68,140 | $48,000 | $95,000 |
| 18 | Maryland | $67,381 | $46,000 | $97,000 |
| 19 | New Hampshire | $66,874 | $48,000 | $92,000 |
| 20 | Washington | $66,266 | $46,000 | $94,000 |
| 21 | Oregon | $65,977 | $45,000 | $95,000 |
| 22 | Montana | $63,420 | $44,000 | $89,000 |
| 23 | Michigan | $61,628 | $43,000 | $87,000 |
| 24 | Ohio | $61,476 | $42,000 | $88,000 |
| 25 | West Virginia | $61,093 | $41,000 | $89,000 |
| 26 | Virginia | $61,082 | $41,000 | $90,000 |
| 27 | Colorado | $61,043 | $41,000 | $90,000 |
| 28 | Kentucky | $60,987 | $41,000 | $90,000 |
| 29 | North Carolina | $60,483 | $39,000 | $91,000 |
| 30 | Oklahoma | $60,395 | $39,000 | $91,000 |
| 31 | South Dakota | $59,653 | $42,000 | $84,000 |
| 32 | Arkansas | $59,574 | $39,000 | $90,000 |
| 33 | Alaska | $58,787 | $45,000 | $76,000 |
| 34 | Nebraska | $58,567 | $40,000 | $84,000 |
| 35 | Florida | $57,890 | $36,000 | $91,000 |
| 36 | Vermont | $57,857 | $42,000 | $79,000 |
| 37 | Wyoming | $57,848 | $39,000 | $83,000 |
| 38 | Nevada | $57,623 | $38,000 | $86,000 |
| 39 | Missouri | $57,476 | $38,000 | $85,000 |
| 40 | Iowa | $57,314 | $40,000 | $82,000 |
| 41 | Alabama | $55,669 | $36,000 | $85,000 |
| 42 | New Mexico | $55,058 | $36,000 | $84,000 |
| 43 | Kansas | $54,926 | $37,000 | $81,000 |
| 44 | Texas | $54,543 | $35,000 | $84,000 |
| 45 | Georgia | $52,141 | $33,000 | $80,000 |
| 46 | Mississippi | $51,954 | $33,000 | $80,000 |
| 47 | South Carolina | $51,229 | $33,000 | $78,000 |
| 48 | Utah | $49,175 | $33,000 | $72,000 |
| 49 | Louisiana | $45,551 | $29,000 | $70,000 |
| 50 | North Dakota | $44,690 | $32,000 | $61,000 |
Methodology: Fellow Salary By State
To better understand fellow 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 fellows by state.
We took the average annual salary data for fellows from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for fellows.
Fellow Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for fellows?
The highest-paid state for fellows is Tennessee with an average salary of $94,634 per year.
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What city pays fellows the most?
Oak Ridge, TN pays fellows the most with an average salary of $94,447 per year.
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What is the worst state for fellows?
The worst state for fellows is North Dakota with an average salary of $44,690 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.
