If you’re looking for a new place to call home and you need somewhere that suits your career, this list of the best states for sociologists can serve as your guide.
It’s always best to live somewhere that makes sense for your job and can provide the best quality of life. Writers can live pretty much anywhere with wifi or a notebook, but farmers probably can’t live in the city and be able to also tend to their crops. This means you have to take a look at a place that can give you a good education and also provide you with a job. There’s no sense in living in a place where you can’t be employed for what you want to do. It seems like it’ll make your life harder.
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Sociologists study society and social behavior through examining a specific group, culture, organization, or institution. They process the development when people interact and work together. You might have taken a required class on this if you went to college. Or maybe it even interested you enough to major in it. Most sociologists work in research organizations, colleges, universities, or state and local governments. It’s mostly a research-based job, so if you go into this career you might find yourself working for a university teaching classes and conducting research. It’s along the lines of social work since they tend to fall within the same department, and you can check out our list of the 25 Best States for Social Workers if that’s more your speed.
In order to become a sociologist, you need a degree. However, most sociology jobs, since they tend to be at the university level, require a postgraduate degree. US News ranked the best universities for sociology and found that the top three are Princeton, UC Berkeley, and the University of Wisconsin, which is important to note. Once you’ve completed your degree and you enter the working world, you’ll want your time to be paid off. This means you’ll want to be in a place that offers a good salary and a fairly low cost of living. We grabbed that data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s important to note that there is a stark difference between salaries for sociologists and sociology teachers, so we calculated the average between those two within each state to get our final number. We averaged the salary with the cost of living index to provide a good scope for whether or not it’s cost effective to live somewhere. There’s no use in making an average salary if the cost of living is through the roof. The states at the top of the list cost less and pay more.
Without further ado, pack your bags and head off into the 10 Best States for Sociologists.
10. New Hampshire
Cost of living index: 119.2
Average annual wage: $94,220
Average hourly wage: $45.29
Number of employees: 60
The cost of living here is a bit high, but it balances out nicely with that high average salary.
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9. Kentucky
Cost of living index: 90.8
Average annual wage: $72,590
Average hourly wage: $34.89
Number of employees: 180
Kentucky has a lower annual salary, but the cost of living is pretty well below average, which is probably why there are already 180 sociologists working here.
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8. Iowa
Cost of living index: 91.7
Average annual wage: $75,470
Average hourly wage: $36.28
Number of employees: 170
Much like Kentucky, the cost of living is low enough that the smaller annual salary is still hefty enough.
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7. Indiana
Cost of living index: 87.9
Average annual wage: $72,600
Average hourly wage: $34.90
Number of employees: 320
You can probably sense a pattern here. Indiana has a super low cost of living that makes it affordable to function. This probably is the reason why 320 sociologists live and work here and is also why it ranks on our list of the 10 best states for sociologists.
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6. Illinois
Cost of living index: 95.5
Average annual wage: $79,400
Average hourly wage: $38.17
Number of employees: 370
The salary here is creeping up to a higher number, and even though there is a higher cost of living than previous states mentioned, 370 sociologists find it to be adequate.
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5. Pennsylvania
Cost of living index: 102.8
Average annual wage: $85,480
Average hourly wage: $41.09
Number of employees: 1,620
You’ll find a lot of sociology buddies here, as 1,620 call Pennsylvania home.
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4. North Carolina
Cost of living index: 94.2
Average annual wage: $78,830
Average hourly wage: $37.89
Number of employees: 820
North Carolina offers excellent living and working conditions for sociologists.
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3. New Mexico
Cost of living index: 95.7
Average annual wage: $81,790
Average hourly wage: $39.32
Number of employees: 70
Forget about money anxieties in New Mexico that ranks 3rd in our list of best states for sociologists, which is already home to 70 sociologists.
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2. Michigan
Cost of living index: 88.2
Average annual wage: $77,965
Average hourly wage: $37.48
Number of employees: 670
Michigan’s low cost of living index and above average salary is the reason 670 sociologists call it home.
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1. Rhode Island
Cost of living index: 122.1
Average annual wage: $127,460
Average hourly wage: $61.27
Number of employees: 120
The cost of living in Rhode Island is the highest on this list, but once you take a look at that salary it balances out extremely well. You’ll be able to call this small coastal state home and afford to have a high quality of life.
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That concludes our list of the best states for sociologists. We hope we managed to help you decide where you should move and work to have a great career and life.
