Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of leader salary by state for the United States:
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Maine has the highest leader salary of $107,828
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Utah has the lowest leader salary of $53,190
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The national average salary for leaders is $86,964
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The national hourly pay for leaders is $41.81
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 leaders 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 leader 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 leaders after this adjustment? That would be Maine.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for leader salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Leaders By State
| Rank | State | Average Leader Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maine | $107,828 | $69,000 | $167,000 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $104,599 | $66,000 | $163,000 |
| 3 | New York | $103,282 | $64,000 | $165,000 |
| 4 | Connecticut | $102,385 | $64,000 | $162,000 |
| 5 | New Jersey | $101,643 | $62,000 | $164,000 |
| 6 | Rhode Island | $98,747 | $62,000 | $155,000 |
| 7 | Delaware | $98,258 | $58,000 | $165,000 |
| 8 | California | $94,566 | $51,000 | $174,000 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | $94,283 | $60,000 | $147,000 |
| 10 | Alaska | $93,599 | $67,000 | $129,000 |
| 11 | Maryland | $89,752 | $51,000 | $156,000 |
| 12 | Michigan | $89,516 | $51,000 | $156,000 |
| 13 | Pennsylvania | $88,157 | $52,000 | $147,000 |
| 14 | Texas | $85,680 | $45,000 | $162,000 |
| 15 | Louisiana | $84,817 | $44,000 | $160,000 |
| 16 | Illinois | $83,416 | $44,000 | $156,000 |
| 17 | Washington | $83,241 | $46,000 | $149,000 |
| 18 | Ohio | $82,488 | $45,000 | $150,000 |
| 19 | Virginia | $82,458 | $45,000 | $149,000 |
| 20 | Minnesota | $82,111 | $45,000 | $148,000 |
| 21 | Arizona | $81,652 | $42,000 | $157,000 |
| 22 | Vermont | $80,545 | $51,000 | $127,000 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | $80,183 | $43,000 | $146,000 |
| 24 | West Virginia | $79,934 | $43,000 | $148,000 |
| 25 | Hawaii | $77,479 | $59,000 | $101,000 |
| 26 | South Dakota | $76,793 | $39,000 | $148,000 |
| 27 | North Dakota | $76,552 | $43,000 | $136,000 |
| 28 | Georgia | $76,227 | $39,000 | $147,000 |
| 29 | Alabama | $74,906 | $38,000 | $145,000 |
| 30 | North Carolina | $74,207 | $38,000 | $142,000 |
| 31 | South Carolina | $73,588 | $38,000 | $142,000 |
| 32 | Indiana | $73,550 | $38,000 | $141,000 |
| 33 | Florida | $73,323 | $38,000 | $137,000 |
| 34 | Oregon | $72,919 | $38,000 | $136,000 |
| 35 | Kentucky | $70,285 | $35,000 | $138,000 |
| 36 | Nevada | $70,220 | $35,000 | $138,000 |
| 37 | Wyoming | $69,711 | $34,000 | $140,000 |
| 38 | New Mexico | $68,797 | $34,000 | $138,000 |
| 39 | Missouri | $68,353 | $33,000 | $138,000 |
| 40 | Mississippi | $67,769 | $34,000 | $134,000 |
| 41 | Tennessee | $66,743 | $33,000 | $133,000 |
| 42 | Kansas | $65,466 | $31,000 | $134,000 |
| 43 | Idaho | $64,590 | $32,000 | $128,000 |
| 44 | Oklahoma | $64,087 | $31,000 | $131,000 |
| 45 | Colorado | $63,949 | $30,000 | $132,000 |
| 46 | Iowa | $62,998 | $31,000 | $126,000 |
| 47 | Arkansas | $62,774 | $30,000 | $128,000 |
| 48 | Nebraska | $61,656 | $29,000 | $127,000 |
| 49 | Montana | $60,758 | $31,000 | $117,000 |
| 50 | Utah | $53,190 | $25,000 | $110,000 |
Methodology: Leader Salary By State
To better understand leader 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 leaders by state.
We took the average annual salary data for leaders from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for leaders.
Leader Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for leaders?
The highest-paid state for leaders is Maine with an average salary of $107,828 per year.
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What city pays leaders the most?
Portland, ME pays leaders the most with an average salary of $108,922 per year.
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What is the worst state for leaders?
The worst state for leaders is Utah with an average salary of $53,190 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.
