Study Ranks Florida as Best State for Getting a Pay Raise

Results from a recent study ranked Florida as the top state for getting a pay raise. Florida workers who get promoted earn a +35.3% pay raise, on average – more than any other state in the U.S.

The study was conducted by Career.io, where researchers analyzed nearly 40,000 job listings around America and ranked each state by the average increase in pay between entry-level and experienced-level workers.

With an average pay raise of 43.72%, Tallahassee touted the highest average pay raise of any metro area in the nation.

While the overall news was positive for the Sunshine State, two metro areas in Florida showed the lowest average raise per worker: Jacksonville, which ranked the lowest pay raise at 21.32%, and Ft. Myers-Cape Coral, which was the second lowest, at 21.67%.

The wider study examined specific job titles in the state and found that Financial and Investment Analysts in Florida can expect the biggest pay increase (+78% on average).

Methodology

Using figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Modeled Wage Estimates, Career.io calculated the average increase in hourly pay between ‘entry-level’ and ‘experienced-level’ workers for 39,282 occupation listings across 389 U.S. Metro Areas and every U.S. state.

The team calculated the percentage increase in hourly salary per occupation in each location before calculating the average increase in hourly salary of all occupations per metropolitan area and per U.S. state.

Finally, they isolated the occupation in each U.S. state and a selection of U.S. Metro Areas, which enjoyed the greatest increase (%) in hourly pay from an entry-level role to an experienced-level role.

The data analysis was completed in April 2024 using the latest available estimate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for salaries per occupation by experience level, published in August 2023.