Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of president salary by state for the United States:
-
New York has the highest president salary of $185,448
-
Idaho has the lowest president salary of $122,547
-
The national average salary for presidents is $192,329
-
The national hourly pay for presidents is $92.47
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 presidents 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 president 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 presidents after this adjustment? That would be New York.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for president salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Presidents By State
| Rank | State | Average President Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | $185,448 | $129,000 | $265,000 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $183,675 | $127,000 | $263,000 |
| 3 | Illinois | $177,899 | $121,000 | $261,000 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | $175,566 | $119,000 | $257,000 |
| 5 | Texas | $172,204 | $115,000 | $257,000 |
| 6 | California | $171,536 | $114,000 | $255,000 |
| 7 | Washington | $171,338 | $114,000 | $256,000 |
| 8 | Virginia | $169,961 | $114,000 | $252,000 |
| 9 | Nebraska | $168,875 | $111,000 | $255,000 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | $168,635 | $113,000 | $250,000 |
| 11 | North Carolina | $166,495 | $110,000 | $250,000 |
| 12 | Louisiana | $165,174 | $108,000 | $250,000 |
| 13 | Connecticut | $162,648 | $108,000 | $244,000 |
| 14 | Hawaii | $162,643 | $106,000 | $247,000 |
| 15 | Tennessee | $161,811 | $105,000 | $247,000 |
| 16 | Alabama | $160,446 | $104,000 | $246,000 |
| 17 | Massachusetts | $160,277 | $106,000 | $242,000 |
| 18 | Delaware | $159,552 | $105,000 | $241,000 |
| 19 | Colorado | $157,314 | $101,000 | $244,000 |
| 20 | Missouri | $156,604 | $100,000 | $243,000 |
| 21 | Ohio | $156,294 | $102,000 | $239,000 |
| 22 | South Dakota | $153,476 | $98,000 | $239,000 |
| 23 | Maryland | $152,936 | $99,000 | $234,000 |
| 24 | Oregon | $152,680 | $97,000 | $238,000 |
| 25 | Nevada | $152,584 | $97,000 | $237,000 |
| 26 | Georgia | $152,243 | $97,000 | $236,000 |
| 27 | Florida | $151,621 | $97,000 | $235,000 |
| 28 | Utah | $150,908 | $95,000 | $237,000 |
| 29 | Minnesota | $149,732 | $95,000 | $234,000 |
| 30 | New Mexico | $149,207 | $94,000 | $234,000 |
| 31 | Michigan | $148,782 | $95,000 | $231,000 |
| 32 | South Carolina | $145,861 | $92,000 | $228,000 |
| 33 | Arizona | $145,691 | $92,000 | $230,000 |
| 34 | Kentucky | $145,227 | $92,000 | $229,000 |
| 35 | New Hampshire | $143,085 | $91,000 | $223,000 |
| 36 | West Virginia | $142,123 | $90,000 | $223,000 |
| 37 | Maine | $140,824 | $89,000 | $221,000 |
| 38 | Vermont | $140,458 | $89,000 | $220,000 |
| 39 | North Dakota | $138,692 | $86,000 | $222,000 |
| 40 | Arkansas | $138,221 | $85,000 | $223,000 |
| 41 | Wisconsin | $136,744 | $85,000 | $218,000 |
| 42 | Alaska | $134,823 | $83,000 | $217,000 |
| 43 | Indiana | $134,477 | $83,000 | $215,000 |
| 44 | Wyoming | $129,914 | $79,000 | $213,000 |
| 45 | Kansas | $128,652 | $78,000 | $211,000 |
| 46 | Oklahoma | $128,375 | $77,000 | $211,000 |
| 47 | Montana | $127,065 | $77,000 | $208,000 |
| 48 | Iowa | $126,593 | $77,000 | $207,000 |
| 49 | Mississippi | $126,166 | $76,000 | $207,000 |
| 50 | Idaho | $122,547 | $73,000 | $203,000 |
Methodology: President Salary By State
To better understand president 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 presidents by state.
We took the average annual salary data for presidents from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for presidents.
President Salary By State FAQs
-
What is the highest-paid state for presidents?
The highest-paid state for presidents is New York with an average salary of $185,448 per year.
-
What city pays presidents the most?
New York, NY pays presidents the most with an average salary of $210,207 per year.
-
What is the worst state for presidents?
The worst state for presidents is Idaho with an average salary of $122,547 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.
