{"h1":"Best cities for pay after cost of living in the Northeast","faq":[{"a":"Cambridge leads the Northeast for pay after the cost of living: its median posted salary buys what $186k buys at average US prices.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for pay after cost of living in the northeast?"},{"a":"19 cities have at least 100 openings with pay posted, so the list has 19 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"The score is a city's median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) 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 50 listings 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":"Cambridge leads the Northeast for pay after the cost of living: its median posted salary buys what $186k buys at average US prices.","minN":100,"rows":[{"n":289,"key":"MA|cambridge","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/cambridge","name":"Cambridge","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$197k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+6%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"289"}],"value":186086.9565217391,"change":null,"employers":["The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory","Harvard University","Biogen"],"valueLabel":"$186k"},{"n":173,"key":"MA|waltham","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/waltham","name":"Waltham","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$194k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+6%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"173"}],"value":183364.8393194707,"change":null,"employers":["Boston Dynamics","Anduril Industries","Xometry"],"valueLabel":"$183k"},{"n":91,"key":"NJ|princeton","sub":"NJ","href":"/places/new-jersey/city/princeton","name":"Princeton","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$178k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+9%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"91"}],"value":163924.6323529412,"change":null,"employers":["Genmab A/S","Otsuka","ZS Associates"],"valueLabel":"$164k"},{"n":67,"key":"MA|lexington","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/lexington","name":"Lexington","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$171k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+6%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"67"}],"value":161216.9187145558,"change":null,"employers":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lincoln Lab)","Takeda Development Center Americas","Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International"],"valueLabel":"$161k"},{"n":79,"key":"MA|quincy","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/quincy","name":"Quincy","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$170k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+6%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"79"}],"value":160680.5293005671,"change":null,"employers":["State Street","Anduril Industries","Anduril"],"valueLabel":"$161k"},{"n":1305,"key":"MA|boston","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/boston","name":"Boston","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$170k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+8%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"1,305"}],"value":156971.3758079409,"change":null,"employers":["Vertex Pharmaceuticals","State Street","Confidential"],"valueLabel":"$157k"},{"n":6894,"key":"NY|new york","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/new-york","name":"New York","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$165k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+13%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"6,894"}],"value":146536.4120781528,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Publicis Groupe","Morgan Stanley"],"valueLabel":"$147k"},{"n":73,"key":"NJ|jersey city","sub":"NJ","href":"/places/new-jersey/city/jersey-city","name":"Jersey City","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$155k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+9%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"73"}],"value":142463.2352941177,"change":null,"employers":["DTCC","Verisk Analytics","JPMorgan Chase"],"valueLabel":"$142k"},{"n":173,"key":"MA|somerville","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/somerville","name":"Somerville","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$145k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+6%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"173"}],"value":137051.0396975425,"change":null,"employers":["Formlabs","Tulip Interfaces","Generate Biomedicines"],"valueLabel":"$137k"},{"n":50,"key":"CT|hartford","sub":"CT","href":"/places/connecticut/city/hartford","name":"Hartford","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$133k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+4%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"50"}],"value":128088.8030888031,"change":null,"employers":["CVS HEALTH","Hartford HealthCare","Eversource Energy"],"valueLabel":"$128k"},{"n":168,"key":"NY|brooklyn","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/brooklyn","name":"Brooklyn","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$142k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+13%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"168"}],"value":125984.9023090586,"change":null,"employers":["SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University","Williams-Sonoma","Altana AI"],"valueLabel":"$126k"},{"n":283,"key":"PA|philadelphia","sub":"PA","href":"/places/pennsylvania/city/philadelphia","name":"Philadelphia","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$125k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+3%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"283"}],"value":121832.3586744639,"change":null,"employers":["Confidential","Thomas Jefferson University Hospital","GSK"],"valueLabel":"$122k"},{"n":52,"key":"NY|white plains","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/white-plains","name":"White Plains","rank":13,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$136k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"+13%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"52"}],"value":120781.5275310835,"change":null,"employers":["New York Power Authority","FormativGroup","RWE Clean Energy"],"valueLabel":"$121k"},{"n":148,"key":"PA|pittsburgh","sub":"PA","href":"/places/pennsylvania/city/pittsburgh","name":"Pittsburgh","rank":14,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$113k"},{"label":"Local prices vs US average","value":"−5%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"148"}],"value":118796.1985216473,"change":null,"employers":["PNC Financial Services Group","Highmark Health","UPMC"],"valueLabel":"$119k"},{"n":94,"key":"NJ|newark","sub":"NJ","href":"/places/new-jersey/city/newark","name":"Newark","rank":15,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$124k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+9%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"94"}],"value":113740.8088235294,"change":null,"employers":["Broadridge Financial Solutions","Amazon","Audible"],"valueLabel":"$114k"},{"n":58,"key":"NY|syracuse","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/syracuse","name":"Syracuse","rank":16,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$118k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+8%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"58"}],"value":109592.2150139018,"change":null,"employers":["Upstate Medical University","Hidden Level","HII Mission Technologies"],"valueLabel":"$110k"},{"n":86,"key":"NY|buffalo","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/buffalo","name":"Buffalo","rank":17,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$108k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+8%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"86"}],"value":99912.18721037998,"change":null,"employers":["Moog Military Aircraft","University at Buffalo","Moog"],"valueLabel":"$100k"},{"n":79,"key":"NY|albany","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/albany","name":"Albany","rank":18,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$103k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+8%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"79"}],"value":95072.75254865616,"change":null,"employers":["KPMG","New York State","Broadview Credit Union"],"valueLabel":"$95k"},{"n":60,"key":"NY|rochester","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/rochester","name":"Rochester","rank":19,"stats":[{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$99k"},{"label":"State prices vs US average","value":"+8%"},{"label":"Openings with pay posted","value":"60"}],"value":91519.92585727526,"change":null,"employers":["L3HARRIS Technologies","Harris Health Strategic Fund","Rochester Institute of Technology"],"valueLabel":"$92k"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-pay-vs-cost-of-living-in-the-northeast","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"northeast","kind":"region","name":"Northeast"},"title":"Best cities for pay after cost of living in the Northeast","family":"Pay","method":["The score is a city's median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) 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 50 listings 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":"2026-11-02T22:01:52.820Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"paycost","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":"$136k"},"keyFacts":["#1 Cambridge, MA: $186k","#2 Waltham, MA: $183k","#3 Princeton, NJ: $164k","19 cities ranked in the Northeast","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["The top ten is tightly packed: Cambridge leads on $186k, and #10 Hartford is at $128k.","Hartford reaches #10 on a sample of 50 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 6,894 openings with pay posted behind its figure.","Cities with fewer than 100 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-pay-vs-cost-of-living-in-the-northeast"}