{"h1":"Best cities for aerospace and defense pay after cost of living","faq":[{"a":"San Jose leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this industry: its median posted salary buys what $187k buys at average US prices.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for aerospace and defense pay after cost of living?"},{"a":"19 cities have at least 30 openings with pay posted, so the list has 19 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"The score is the median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) for roles at employers in this industry in a city, divided by its local price level, with the United States at 100. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for the city's metro area, or its state where no metro figure exists. Only cities with at least 20 listings in the industry that post a salary are ranked. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"San Jose leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this industry: its median posted salary buys what $187k buys at average US prices.","minN":30,"rows":[{"n":21,"bar":1,"key":"CA|san jose","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-jose","name":"San Jose","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$207k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+10%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"21"}],"value":187047.1014492754,"change":null,"employers":["Super Micro Computer","Advanced Micro Devices","Cisco Systems"],"valueLabel":"$187k"},{"n":32,"bar":0.8910411622276029,"key":"CA|alameda","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/alameda","name":"Alameda","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$185k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+11%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"32"}],"value":166666.6666666667,"change":null,"employers":["Saildrone","Penumbra","Kairos Power"],"valueLabel":"$167k"},{"n":43,"bar":0.8558442035708628,"key":"WA|kirkland","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/kirkland","name":"Kirkland","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$171k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+7%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"43"}],"value":160083.1775700935,"change":null,"employers":["Echodyne","Amazon","Google"],"valueLabel":"$160k"},{"n":58,"bar":0.8138352217615912,"key":"VA|arlington","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/arlington","name":"Arlington","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$154k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"58"}],"value":152225.5192878339,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","AWS","Bloomberg Industry Group"],"valueLabel":"$152k"},{"n":32,"bar":0.8093010225521783,"key":"DC|washington","sub":"DC","href":"/places/district-of-columbia/city/washington","name":"Washington","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$165k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+9%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"32"}],"value":151377.4104683196,"change":null,"employers":["Anduril Industries","CACI International","Shield AI"],"valueLabel":"$151k"},{"n":20,"bar":0.8079575943982724,"key":"AL|huntsville","sub":"AL","href":"/places/alabama/city/huntsville","name":"Huntsville","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$134k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"−11%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"20"}],"value":151126.1261261261,"change":null,"employers":["L3HARRIS Technologies","Northrop Grumman","Blue Origin"],"valueLabel":"$151k"},{"n":45,"bar":0.8064319124018365,"key":"VA|herndon","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/herndon","name":"Herndon","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$153k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"45"}],"value":150840.7517309595,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","AWS","Peraton"],"valueLabel":"$151k"},{"n":25,"bar":0.8038444735692442,"key":"TX|austin","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/austin","name":"Austin","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$148k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"−2%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"25"}],"value":150356.7787971458,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Advanced Micro Devices","Cloudflare"],"valueLabel":"$150k"},{"n":26,"bar":0.8034529950521107,"key":"CO|denver","sub":"CO","href":"/places/colorado/city/denver","name":"Denver","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$159k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+6%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"26"}],"value":150283.5538752363,"change":null,"employers":["True Anomaly","Blue Origin","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"$150k"},{"n":20,"bar":0.7726573972663291,"key":"TX|houston","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/houston","name":"Houston","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$143k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"−1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"20"}],"value":144523.3265720081,"change":null,"employers":["Axiom Space","Trinzic","Fervo Energy"],"valueLabel":"$145k"},{"n":31,"bar":0.7667713265460084,"key":"VA|manassas","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/manassas","name":"Manassas","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$145k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"31"}],"value":143422.3541048467,"change":null,"employers":["General Dynamics Mission Systems","Electra.Aero","Holder Construction"],"valueLabel":"$143k"},{"n":85,"bar":0.7622679971724013,"key":"CO|westminster","sub":"CO","href":"/places/colorado/city/westminster","name":"Westminster","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$147k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"85"}],"value":142580.0193986421,"change":null,"employers":["CesiumAstro","BAE Systems","Loenbro"],"valueLabel":"$143k"},{"n":33,"bar":0.7530223234493215,"key":"VA|alexandria","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/alexandria","name":"Alexandria","rank":13,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$142k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"33"}],"value":140850.6429277943,"change":null,"employers":["Kearney","Patent and Trademark Office","Analytic Services (ANSER)"],"valueLabel":"$141k"},{"n":221,"bar":0.7529925314599463,"key":"CA|los angeles","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/los-angeles","name":"Los Angeles","rank":14,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$160k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+14%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"221"}],"value":140845.0704225352,"change":null,"employers":["K2 Space","Cedars-sinai Medical Center","Apex Space"],"valueLabel":"$141k"},{"n":56,"bar":0.7437416747048827,"key":"CA|el segundo","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/el-segundo","name":"El Segundo","rank":15,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$154k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+11%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"56"}],"value":139114.7244805782,"change":null,"employers":["Chaos Industries","Radiant","Varda Space Industries"],"valueLabel":"$139k"},{"n":106,"bar":0.7364974376136013,"key":"CA|torrance","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/torrance","name":"Torrance","rank":16,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$153k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+11%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"106"}],"value":137759.7109304426,"change":null,"employers":["Divergent Technologies","Valar Atomics","Neros"],"valueLabel":"$138k"},{"n":26,"bar":0.6705283048691992,"key":"VA|mclean","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/mclean","name":"McLean","rank":17,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$127k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"26"}],"value":125420.3758654797,"change":null,"employers":["Capital One","The MITRE","Steampunk"],"valueLabel":"$125k"},{"n":29,"bar":0.6315934833714183,"key":"TX|fort worth","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/fort-worth","name":"Fort Worth","rank":18,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$122k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"29"}],"value":118137.7303588749,"change":null,"employers":["Lockheed Martin","Sikorsky Aircraft","MP Materials"],"valueLabel":"$118k"},{"n":23,"bar":0.6211010782283559,"key":"CA|san diego","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-diego","name":"San Diego","rank":19,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$130k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+12%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"23"}],"value":116175.1563896336,"change":null,"employers":["Qualcomm Inc/De","Qualcomm Technologies","General Atomics"],"valueLabel":"$116k"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-aerospace-and-defense-pay-vs-cost-of-living","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"us","kind":"national","name":"United States"},"title":"Best cities for aerospace and defense pay after cost of living","family":"Industry markets","method":["The score is the median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) for roles at employers in this industry in a city, divided by its local price level, with the United States at 100.","Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for the city's metro area, or its state where no metro figure exists. Only cities with at least 20 listings in the industry that post a salary are ranked.","A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score."],"builtAt":"2026-11-03T03:57:58.028Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"icpay","sources":["NextChapter job data: posted annual salary ranges","Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities 2024 (metro areas and states)"],"baseline":{"label":"the typical city in our data","valueLabel":"$143k"},"keyFacts":["#1 San Jose, CA: $187k","#2 Alameda, CA: $167k","#3 Kirkland, WA: $160k","19 cities ranked in the United States","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: San Jose leads on $187k, and #10 Houston is at $145k.","Arlington is the largest market in the top ten, with 58 openings with pay posted behind its figure.","Cities with fewer than 30 openings with pay posted are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-aerospace-and-defense-pay-vs-cost-of-living"}