{"h1":"Best cities for operations pay after cost of living","faq":[{"a":"Reston leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this job family: its median posted salary buys what $177k buys at average US prices.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for operations pay after cost of living?"},{"a":"41 cities have at least 30 openings with pay posted, so the list has 41 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"The score is the median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) for this job family 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 family 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":"Reston leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this job family: its median posted salary buys what $177k buys at average US prices.","minN":30,"rows":[{"n":20,"key":"VA|reston","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/reston","name":"Reston","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$179k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"20"}],"value":177052.4233432245,"change":null,"employers":["ICF International","CACI International","Anduril Industries"],"valueLabel":"$177k"},{"n":32,"key":"CA|santa clara","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/santa-clara","name":"Santa Clara","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$192k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+11%"},{"label":"Openings with pay 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Correctional Health Care Services","Nalu Medical"],"valueLabel":"$130k"},{"n":51,"key":"GA|atlanta","sub":"GA","href":"/places/georgia/city/atlanta","name":"Atlanta","rank":19,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$129k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+0%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"51"}],"value":129020.979020979,"change":null,"employers":["Emory University","Oxford College of Emory University","Capgemini Invent"],"valueLabel":"$129k"},{"n":30,"key":"CA|el segundo","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/el-segundo","name":"El Segundo","rank":20,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$142k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+11%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"30"}],"value":127822.9448961156,"change":null,"employers":["Chaos Industries","Radiant","Varda Space Industries"],"valueLabel":"$128k"},{"n":88,"key":"DC|washington","sub":"DC","href":"/places/district-of-columbia/city/washington","name":"Washington","rank":21,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$138k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+9%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"88"}],"value":127128.0991735537,"change":null,"employers":["Anduril Industries","Shield AI","CACI International"],"valueLabel":"$127k"},{"n":25,"key":"VA|alexandria","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/alexandria","name":"Alexandria","rank":22,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$128k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"25"}],"value":126485.1632047478,"change":null,"employers":["Kearney","Patent and Trademark Office","Analytic Services (ANSER)"],"valueLabel":"$126k"},{"n":56,"key":"CA|san diego","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-diego","name":"San 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Bank","Dewberry","MaintainX"],"valueLabel":"$94k"},{"n":65,"key":"KY|louisville","sub":"KY","href":"/places/kentucky/city/louisville","name":"Louisville","rank":40,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$85k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"−10%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"65"}],"value":94235.03325942351,"change":null,"employers":["BrightSpring Health Services","Norton Healthcare","GE Appliances"],"valueLabel":"$94k"},{"n":22,"key":"FL|tampa","sub":"FL","href":"/places/florida/city/tampa","name":"Tampa","rank":41,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$81k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+1%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"22"}],"value":80153.61744301287,"change":null,"employers":["DTCC","University of South Florida","Tampa Electric"],"valueLabel":"$80k"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-operations-pay-vs-cost-of-living","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"us","kind":"national","name":"United States"},"title":"Best cities for operations pay after cost of living","family":"Job families","method":["The score is the median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) for this job family 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 family 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":"2026-11-02T22:06:17.622Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"fnpay","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":"$129k"},"keyFacts":["#1 Reston, VA: $177k","#2 Santa Clara, CA: $173k","#3 Cambridge, MA: $163k","41 cities ranked in the United States","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Reston leads on $177k, and #10 San Francisco is at $144k.","San Francisco is the largest market in the top ten, with 270 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-operations-pay-vs-cost-of-living"}