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Best states for a research and development assistant

  • Rank 1 - 10
  • 11 - 20
  • 21 - 30
  • 31 - 40
  • 41 - 51
Not all states present equal opportunity for employees, and when it comes to research and development assistant jobs, it's no different. We know how hard job search can be, and in order to make your life a little easier, we have the information you need in order to determine where you might want to start your job search. We wanted to look at the best states for research and development assistants -- where there are plenty of research and development assistant jobs to go around and research and development assistants get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To do that, we looked at the most recent data we have available for the following criteria -- average annual wages, and availability of jobs for research and development assistants.We found that Massachusetts is the best state for research and development assistant jobs, whereas Alabama is the worst.

10 best states for research and development assistants in 2026

  1. Massachusetts #1 best state for research and development assistants

    1. Massachusetts

    Total research and development assistant jobs:2,384
    Average annual salary:$88,395
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$57,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$136,000
    Location Quotient:
    1.6
  2. Oregon #2 best state for research and development assistants

    2. Oregon

    Total research and development assistant jobs:618
    Average annual salary:$84,259
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$57,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$123,000
    Location Quotient:
    0.92
  3. New Jersey #3 best state for research and development assistants

    3. New Jersey

    Total research and development assistant jobs:1,085
    Average annual salary:$89,861
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$56,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$143,000
    Location Quotient:
    0.84
  4. Minnesota #4 best state for research and development assistants

    4. Minnesota

    Total research and development assistant jobs:1,555
    Average annual salary:$69,753
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$46,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$105,000
    Location Quotient:
    1.44
  5. Rhode Island #5 best state for research and development assistants

    5. Rhode Island

    Total research and development assistant jobs:176
    Average annual salary:$73,219
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$47,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$113,000
    Location Quotient:
    0.89
  6. Wyoming #6 best state for research and development assistants

    6. Wyoming

    Total research and development assistant jobs:156
    Average annual salary:$64,384
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$43,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$96,000
    Location Quotient:
    1.61
  7. Arizona #7 best state for research and development assistants

    7. Arizona

    Total research and development assistant jobs:1,199
    Average annual salary:$67,640
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$42,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$106,000
    Location Quotient:
    1.26
  8. Washington #8 best state for research and development assistants

    8. Washington

    Total research and development assistant jobs:739
    Average annual salary:$80,466
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$55,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$116,000
    Location Quotient:
    0.62
  9. West Virginia #9 best state for research and development assistants

    9. West Virginia

    Total research and development assistant jobs:245
    Average annual salary:$67,749
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$40,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$113,000
    Location Quotient:
    0.99
  10. Ohio #10 best state for research and development assistants

    10. Ohio

    Total research and development assistant jobs:1,758
    Average annual salary:$67,582
    Lowest 10 percent earn:$41,000
    Highest 10 percent earn:$110,000
    Location Quotient:
    1.06

Research and development assistant jobsNear Columbus, OH

How Zippia determines the best states to be a research and development assistant

You can read about how the best state rankings are calculated here.

Detailed list of the best states for a research and development assistant

RankStateAverage salaryLowest 10% earnPopulationJob count
1Massachusetts$88,395$57,0006,859,8192,384
2Oregon$84,259$57,0004,142,776618
3New Jersey$89,861$56,0009,005,6441,085
4Minnesota$69,753$46,0005,576,6061,555
5Rhode Island$73,219$47,0001,059,639176
6Wyoming$64,384$43,000579,315156
7Arizona$67,640$42,0007,016,2701,199
8Washington$80,466$55,0007,405,743739
9West Virginia$67,749$40,0001,815,857245
10Ohio$67,582$41,00011,658,6091,758
11Nevada$69,203$43,0002,998,039330
12Delaware$75,412$46,000961,939131
13New Hampshire$71,548$46,0001,342,795211
14Illinois$71,625$44,00012,802,0231,202
15Montana$62,776$43,0001,050,493263
16California$69,635$44,00039,536,6535,053
17Wisconsin$62,705$40,0005,795,483984
18Alaska$64,180$53,000739,795202
19Idaho$69,674$46,0001,716,943147
20North Dakota$61,119$42,000755,393178
21Indiana$60,576$37,0006,666,8181,095
22New Mexico$59,835$36,0002,088,070411
23District of Columbia$74,794$45,000693,972159
24Maryland$69,323$42,0006,052,177708
25Connecticut$67,582$43,0003,588,184362
26South Dakota$58,316$38,000869,666218
27Iowa$61,664$39,0003,145,711477
28North Carolina$65,395$37,00010,273,419880
29Utah$63,315$41,0003,101,833353
30Missouri$58,689$36,0006,113,5321,123
31Kentucky$59,956$35,0004,454,189493
32Kansas$58,917$36,0002,913,123493
33Arkansas$57,545$34,0003,004,279406
34Nebraska$56,215$36,0001,920,076434
35Maine$62,489$41,0001,335,907128
36Pennsylvania$51,767$32,00012,805,5372,761
37Louisiana$57,678$33,0004,684,333389
38New York$63,073$39,00019,849,3991,251
39Georgia$54,328$31,00010,429,3791,978
40Florida$54,343$32,00020,984,4002,895
41Tennessee$51,084$30,0006,715,9841,108
42Hawaii$46,367$38,0001,427,538163
43Colorado$59,239$38,0005,607,154671
44Virginia$59,524$35,0008,470,020977
45Mississippi$54,820$32,0002,984,100274
46Michigan$48,678$30,0009,962,3111,548
47Texas$45,978$27,00028,304,5964,395
48Vermont$53,439$35,000623,657106
49South Carolina$50,481$29,0005,024,369529
50Oklahoma$41,157$24,0003,930,864433
51Alabama$40,546$23,0004,874,747511

Highest paying states for research and development assistants

RankStateAvg. Research And Development Assistant Salary
1Massachusetts$88,395
2Oregon$84,259
3New Jersey$89,861
4Minnesota$69,753
5Rhode Island$73,219
6Wyoming$64,384
7Arizona$67,640
8Washington$80,466
9West Virginia$67,749
10Ohio$67,582
11Nevada$69,203
12Delaware$75,412
13New Hampshire$71,548
14Illinois$71,625
15Montana$62,776
16California$69,635
17Wisconsin$62,705
18Alaska$64,180
19Idaho$69,674
20North Dakota$61,119
21Indiana$60,576
22New Mexico$59,835
23District of Columbia$74,794
24Maryland$69,323
25Connecticut$67,582
26South Dakota$58,316
27Iowa$61,664
28North Carolina$65,395
29Utah$63,315
30Missouri$58,689
31Kentucky$59,956
32Kansas$58,917
33Arkansas$57,545
34Nebraska$56,215
35Maine$62,489
36Pennsylvania$51,767
37Louisiana$57,678
38New York$63,073
39Georgia$54,328
40Florida$54,343
41Tennessee$51,084
42Hawaii$46,367
43Colorado$59,239
44Virginia$59,524
45Mississippi$54,820
46Michigan$48,678
47Texas$45,978
48Vermont$53,439
49South Carolina$50,481
50Oklahoma$41,157
51Alabama$40,546

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