Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of internship salary by state for the United States:
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Alaska has the highest internship salary of $44,084
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Louisiana has the lowest internship salary of $27,142
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The national average salary for interns is $35,254
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The national hourly pay for interns is $16.95
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 interns 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 internship 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 interns after this adjustment? That would be Alaska.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for internship salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Interns By State
| Rank | State | Average Internship Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | $44,084 | $37,000 | $52,000 |
| 2 | Washington | $42,583 | $32,000 | $55,000 |
| 3 | Connecticut | $42,560 | $29,000 | $62,000 |
| 4 | California | $41,870 | $29,000 | $59,000 |
| 5 | Nevada | $39,649 | $28,000 | $55,000 |
| 6 | Rhode Island | $39,577 | $27,000 | $57,000 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $39,441 | $27,000 | $56,000 |
| 8 | Colorado | $39,080 | $29,000 | $52,000 |
| 9 | North Dakota | $39,028 | $30,000 | $50,000 |
| 10 | New York | $38,599 | $26,000 | $57,000 |
| 11 | Oregon | $38,556 | $28,000 | $51,000 |
| 12 | Wyoming | $37,686 | $28,000 | $49,000 |
| 13 | Vermont | $37,631 | $28,000 | $50,000 |
| 14 | New Hampshire | $37,368 | $26,000 | $51,000 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | $36,925 | $27,000 | $49,000 |
| 16 | Minnesota | $36,739 | $28,000 | $48,000 |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | $35,873 | $24,000 | $52,000 |
| 18 | Arizona | $35,855 | $25,000 | $50,000 |
| 19 | Montana | $35,784 | $27,000 | $46,000 |
| 20 | Maryland | $35,534 | $24,000 | $51,000 |
| 21 | New Jersey | $35,397 | $24,000 | $52,000 |
| 22 | Hawaii | $35,038 | $26,000 | $46,000 |
| 23 | Georgia | $34,939 | $25,000 | $48,000 |
| 24 | Michigan | $34,919 | $25,000 | $48,000 |
| 25 | Illinois | $34,839 | $25,000 | $47,000 |
| 26 | Virginia | $34,636 | $24,000 | $49,000 |
| 27 | Maine | $34,598 | $26,000 | $45,000 |
| 28 | Ohio | $34,273 | $24,000 | $47,000 |
| 29 | Idaho | $34,250 | $25,000 | $45,000 |
| 30 | Nebraska | $33,719 | $25,000 | $45,000 |
| 31 | Texas | $33,570 | $23,000 | $47,000 |
| 32 | Missouri | $33,182 | $24,000 | $44,000 |
| 33 | Iowa | $32,963 | $24,000 | $43,000 |
| 34 | Utah | $32,927 | $24,000 | $43,000 |
| 35 | Indiana | $32,486 | $23,000 | $44,000 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $32,101 | $22,000 | $44,000 |
| 37 | Kentucky | $32,001 | $23,000 | $44,000 |
| 38 | Tennessee | $31,914 | $23,000 | $43,000 |
| 39 | Delaware | $31,773 | $21,000 | $46,000 |
| 40 | Arkansas | $31,500 | $23,000 | $42,000 |
| 41 | Florida | $31,385 | $21,000 | $45,000 |
| 42 | South Dakota | $31,204 | $23,000 | $41,000 |
| 43 | Oklahoma | $31,190 | $23,000 | $42,000 |
| 44 | West Virginia | $30,721 | $21,000 | $43,000 |
| 45 | Kansas | $30,656 | $22,000 | $41,000 |
| 46 | Mississippi | $29,297 | $21,000 | $40,000 |
| 47 | South Carolina | $28,391 | $20,000 | $39,000 |
| 48 | Alabama | $27,864 | $20,000 | $38,000 |
| 49 | New Mexico | $27,349 | $19,000 | $37,000 |
| 50 | Louisiana | $27,142 | $19,000 | $38,000 |
Methodology: Internship Salary By State
To better understand internship 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 interns by state.
We took the average annual salary data for interns from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for interns.
Internship Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for interns?
The highest-paid state for interns is Alaska with an average salary of $44,084 per year.
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What city pays interns the most?
San Francisco, CA pays interns the most with an average salary of $43,161 per year.
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What is the worst state for interns?
The worst state for interns is Louisiana with an average salary of $27,142 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.
