Here Are The US States Where STEM Fields Pay The Most In 2024

If you are working in a STEM field on either coast, you are doing well.

If you are working in the science, technology, engineering, or math fields in California, you're making the highest salary in the STEM fields in the U.S., according to one new report.

Cytena, a bio-convergence company offering products that are a combination of biology and technology, recently analyzed STEM field salaries in all 50 states using Glassdoor, the site that compiles reviews of companies from employees. Cytena collected salary data for each state for 76 different STEM job titles with 100 and more salary submissions.

Washington state and New York were the second- and third-highest states for STEM salaries, respectively.

California's average STEM salary, pre-tax, is $124,937. In Washington it's $123,954, and in New York it's $114,437.

Of course, these states are also among the most expensive to live in the country. MarketWatch recently analyzed the cost of living in each state and Washington D.C., using the consumer price index, the composite cost of living index and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

According to MarketWatch's analysis, Hawaii, California and Washington D.C. had the highest cost of living in the U.S. Also high on the list were New York (fourth highest in the nation) and Washington state (sixth highest).

MarketWatch's data aligns with Cytena's salary analysis. The states where STEM salaries are lowest are also the states with the lowest cost of living. Mississippi has the lowest STEM salaries of any state in the country, averaging $85,382. The second lowest is Louisiana, averaging $88,935, and just above that is Arkansas, averaging $91,561.

While most of the highest-paying STEM salaries are in the medical field, there are several technology jobs that command high salaries as well. They include business intelligence analysts, computer hardware engineers, computer network architects, programmers, computer scientists, data scientists, database administrators, information security analysts, network administrators, software engineers, video game designers, web designers, and web developers.

Here is a breakdown of the average STEM salary in each state:

State and average annual salary pretax (in $):

1. California, 124,937

2. Washington, 123,954

3. New York, 114,437

4. Nevada, 111,767

5. Maryland, 110,226

6. Massachusetts, 109,807

7. Idaho, 109,216

8. Hawaii, 108,667

9. Colorado, 108,362

10. Connecticut, 107,625

11. Arizona, 106,981

12. Minnesota, 106,814

13. Virginia, 106,596

14. New Jersey, 106,241

15. Alaska, 106,134

16. North Carolina, 105,600

17. Texas, 104,513

18. Utah, 103,918

19. Oregon, 103,426

20. New Hampshire, 103,155

21. Rhode Island, 102,797

22. Wyoming, 102,034

23. North Dakota, 101,165

24. Montana, 100,795

25. Illinois, 100,299

26. Delaware, 100,270

27. Georgia, 99,752

28. South Carolina, 99,339

29. Michigan, 98,810

30. Vermont, 97,916

31. Florida, 97,685

32. Wisconsin, 97,640

33. New Mexico, 97,275

34. Pennsylvania, 97,165

35. Nebraska, 96,568

36. Oklahoma, 95,375

37. Maine, 95,323

38. Kansas, 94,534

39. Indiana, 94,510

40. Ohio, 94,293

41. Tennessee, 93,667

42. Kentucky, 93,653

43. South Dakota, 93,398

44. Missouri, 92,615

45. Iowa, 92,555

46. Alabama, 92,097

47. West Virginia, 91,916

48. Arkansas, 91,561

49. Louisiana, 88,935

50. Mississippi, 85,382