These Are The 10 States With The Highest Manager Salaries For 2017

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 managers 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 managers 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.

To better understand how salaries change across America, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for managers by state.

Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living in a state — because your salary goes further in North Carolina than it does in California.

The state with the best salary for managers after this adjustment? That would be Managers, All Other.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for salaries:

1. Texas
2. North Carolina
3. Virginia
4. Colorado
5. Georgia
6. Arkansas
7. Minnesota
8. Pennsylvania
9. West Virginia
10. Washington

Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.

If you’re interested, you can read more about the job scene here:

• Best Companies To Work For In Houston
• These Are The 10 Best Small Companies To Work For In McKinney
• Top 11 Best Start-Ups to Work For in Austin, TX

How we determined pay by state

As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for managers from the 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics.’

To make the comparison of salaries apples to apples across states, we also took into account the cost of living in each state.

We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a state by the cost of living relative to average. As an example, the cost of living index in California is 135.9 and the average pay is $133630, so our index value would be:

$133,630 * (100 / 135.9) = $98,329

We then ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for managers.

Here’s a look at the full ranking for all states.

For more reading, check out:

• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Austin
• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Dallas
• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Fort Worth
• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Houston
• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In San Antonio
• These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Texas
• These Are The 100 Largest Companies In Texas

Detailed List Of Manager Salaries By State

Rank	State	Adjusted Salary	Average Wage	Cost Of Living
1	Texas	$135,865	$123,230	90.7
2	North Carolina	$130,457	$122,500	93.9
3	Virginia	$126,795	$127,810	100.8
4	Colorado	$126,348	$131,150	103.8
5	Georgia	$125,787	$114,970	91.4
6	Arkansas	$122,238	$106,470	87.1
7	Minnesota	$121,924	$122,900	100.8
8	Pennsylvania	$118,037	$119,690	101.4
9	West Virginia	$117,162	$109,430	93.4
10	Washington	$115,133	$121,120	105.2
11	Ohio	$113,795	$106,740	93.8
12	Missouri	$113,429	$102,540	90.4
13	Nebraska	$111,997	$102,590	91.6
14	New Jersey	$111,960	$136,480	121.9
15	Alabama	$111,008	$101,240	91.2
16	Michigan	$110,831	$98,640	89.0
17	Oklahoma	$108,733	$96,990	89.2
18	Utah	$108,344	$100,760	93.0
19	Florida	$107,538	$105,710	98.3
20	Wyoming	$106,067	$97,370	91.8
21	Kentucky	$105,955	$95,890	90.5
22	Kansas	$104,738	$94,160	89.9
23	New Hampshire	$104,521	$122,290	117.0
24	Mississippi	$104,039	$89,370	85.9
25	Arizona	$99,306	$97,320	98.0
26	California	$98,329	$133,630	135.9
27	Rhode Island	$98,268	$118,610	120.7
28	South Carolina	$98,054	$97,270	99.2
29	North Dakota	$97,615	$97,030	99.4
30	Maryland	$96,183	$120,710	125.5
31	Tennessee	$96,096	$85,910	89.4
32	Iowa	$94,978	$86,430	91.0
33	New Mexico	$94,860	$91,540	96.5
34	Massachusetts	$94,767	$126,420	133.4
35	Nevada	$94,191	$97,300	103.3
36	New York	$92,839	$121,620	131.0
37	Connecticut	$92,067	$117,570	127.7
38	Wisconsin	$90,123	$87,240	96.8
39	South Dakota	$89,691	$93,010	103.7
40	Idaho	$88,968	$81,940	92.1
41	Vermont	$88,546	$107,230	121.1
42	Louisiana	$88,502	$83,900	94.8
43	Maine	$86,435	$95,770	110.8
44	Alaska	$83,684	$109,710	131.1
45	Oregon	$79,117	$91,460	115.6
46	Indiana	$79,039	$70,740	89.5
47	Montana	$70,297	$70,860	100.8
48	Hawaii	$53,061	$89,090	167.9