{"h1":"Best cities for media and entertainment pay after cost of living","faq":[{"a":"San Mateo leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this industry: its median posted salary buys what $209k buys at average US prices.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for media and entertainment pay after cost of living?"},{"a":"9 cities have at least 30 openings with pay posted, so the list has 9 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 Mateo leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this industry: its median posted salary buys what $209k buys at average US prices.","minN":30,"rows":[{"n":46,"bar":1,"key":"CA|san mateo","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-mateo","name":"San Mateo","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$242k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+16%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"46"}],"value":208996.5397923876,"change":null,"employers":["Roblox","Verkada","Skydio"],"valueLabel":"$209k"},{"n":26,"bar":0.7569548028718202,"key":"WA|redmond","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/redmond","name":"Redmond","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$169k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+7%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"26"}],"value":158200.9345794393,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","SpaceX","Microsoft"],"valueLabel":"$158k"},{"n":62,"bar":0.7303394039735098,"key":"CA|san francisco","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-francisco","name":"San Francisco","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$176k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+16%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"62"}],"value":152638.4083044983,"change":null,"employers":["OpenAI","Anthropic","University Of California San Francisco Foundation"],"valueLabel":"$153k"},{"n":24,"bar":0.711772091506787,"key":"CA|culver city","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/culver-city","name":"Culver City","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$165k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+11%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"24"}],"value":148757.9042457091,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Scopely","Apple"],"valueLabel":"$149k"},{"n":111,"bar":0.6423214368995429,"key":"CA|los angeles","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/los-angeles","name":"Los Angeles","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$153k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+14%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"111"}],"value":134242.9577464789,"change":null,"employers":["K2 Space","Cedars-sinai Medical Center","Apex Space"],"valueLabel":"$134k"},{"n":27,"bar":0.6354063646264975,"key":"CO|denver","sub":"CO","href":"/places/colorado/city/denver","name":"Denver","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$141k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+6%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"27"}],"value":132797.7315689981,"change":null,"employers":["True Anomaly","Blue Origin","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"$133k"},{"n":291,"bar":0.5949090139155188,"key":"NY|new york","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/new-york","name":"New York","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$140k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+13%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"291"}],"value":124333.9253996448,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Publicis Groupe","Morgan Stanley"],"valueLabel":"$124k"},{"n":56,"bar":0.5715396392134802,"key":"IL|chicago","sub":"IL","href":"/places/illinois/city/chicago","name":"Chicago","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$124k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+4%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"56"}],"value":119449.806949807,"change":null,"employers":["Publicis Groupe","Northern Trust","Confidential"],"valueLabel":"$119k"},{"n":22,"bar":0.4771382759107431,"key":"NY|new york","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/new-york","name":"New York","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$112k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+13%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"22"}],"value":99720.24866785081,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Publicis Groupe","Morgan Stanley"],"valueLabel":"$100k"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-media-and-entertainment-pay-vs-cost-of-living","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"us","kind":"national","name":"United States"},"title":"Best cities for media and entertainment 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":"$133k"},"keyFacts":["#1 San Mateo, CA: $209k","#2 Redmond, WA: $158k","#3 San Francisco, CA: $153k","9 cities ranked in the United States","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["New York reaches #9 on a sample of 22 openings with pay posted, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.","New York is the largest market in the top ten, with 291 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-media-and-entertainment-pay-vs-cost-of-living"}