Cost Estimators salary

SOC 13-1051 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$78,740

per year, nationally

Middle half

$61,150–$101,850

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

224,220

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-4.2%

16,900 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$48,530$130,820

10th: $48,530
25th: $61,150
Median: $78,740
75th: $101,850
90th: $130,820

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where cost estimators earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Massachusetts	$100,840	105.8	4,520	0.86×
2	Alaska	$97,020	102.4	220	0.46×
3	Wyoming	$90,790	92.7	440	1.09×
4	Colorado	$86,940	103.1	6,100	1.47×
5	Washington	$86,070	107.0	7,470	1.46×
6	California	$85,460	110.7	26,020	0.99×
7	Illinois	$82,750	100.0	5,990	0.68×
8	District of Columbia	$82,730	109.9	270	0.27×
9	Nevada	$82,200	100.0	2,240	1.00×
10	Rhode Island	$81,990	102.3	590	0.82×
11	Vermont	$81,390	98.0	320	0.73×
12	Maryland	$81,190	105.0	4,580	1.15×
13	Connecticut	$81,030	103.6	2,350	0.96×
14	Minnesota	$80,810	98.6	4,310	1.01×
15	New Jersey	$80,570	108.8	5,240	0.85×
16	Virginia	$80,530	101.1	5,840	0.99×
17	Oregon	$80,460	103.4	2,940	1.04×
18	New York	$80,430	107.9	11,980	0.86×
19	Hawaii	$80,360	110.0	1,040	1.15×
20	Idaho	$79,700	95.5	1,600	1.30×
21	Utah	$79,610	98.9	2,800	1.12×
22	New Hampshire	$79,560	104.2	980	0.99×
23	Delaware	$79,290	99.8	730	1.05×
24	Pennsylvania	$78,480	97.6	9,420	1.08×
25	Michigan	$77,990	96.2	6,960	1.10×
26	Ohio	$77,730	92.8	8,100	1.01×
27	West Virginia	$77,480	89.5	830	0.82×
28	Montana	$77,320	94.6	1,230	1.67×
29	Louisiana	$77,030	88.2	2,680	0.96×
30	Arizona	$77,010	100.7	5,760	1.23×
31	Texas	$76,980	97.1	20,760	1.02×
32	Georgia	$76,800	96.3	6,010	0.85×
33	Wisconsin	$76,270	94.1	5,150	1.21×
34	Kansas	$76,250	90.1	2,250	1.09×
35	Iowa	$76,040	87.8	1,870	0.83×
36	Missouri	$76,020	90.8	6,580	1.55×
37	Tennessee	$75,650	91.9	4,340	0.92×
38	Alabama	$74,990	88.8	3,000	0.98×
39	Florida	$74,990	103.4	13,720	0.96×
40	South Dakota	$74,950	88.6	1,030	1.56×
41	Kentucky	$74,880	90.2	1,960	0.68×
42	North Carolina	$74,730	94.3	8,030	1.13×
43	Maine	$74,080	97.0	760	0.83×
44	Indiana	$73,430	93.3	4,810	1.04×
45	North Dakota	$73,280	89.0	730	1.18×
46	Nebraska	$73,100	90.1	1,330	0.90×
47	Mississippi	$71,230	87.0	1,280	0.76×
48	South Carolina	$70,260	93.7	2,880	0.87×
49	Oklahoma	$67,800	87.8	1,860	0.76×
50	New Mexico	$67,590	92.2	900	0.72×
51	Arkansas	$61,470	86.9	1,400	0.75×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where cost estimators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for cost estimators

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$102,640	108.3	3,110	0.80×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$101,630	115.6	3,300	0.96×
3	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$100,410	100.2	90	0.93×
4	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$97,580	110.4	1,680	1.03×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$95,650	107.8	490	1.66×
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$94,490	111.1	4,340	1.44×
7	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$92,600	100.4	150	0.80×
8	Worcester, MA	$92,570	102.5	550	1.09×
9	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$89,820	105.8	3,690	1.59×
10	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$89,540	101.1	290	1.19×
11	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$89,330	108.9	3,780	0.84×
12	Pittsfield, MA	$88,080	95.1	100	1.16×
13	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$87,720	101.8	960	0.93×
14	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$87,670	109.4	100	0.99×
15	Greeley, CO	$87,350	100.2	340	1.96×
16	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$87,170	111.9	2,740	1.24×
17	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$87,150	100.1	330	1.79×
18	Springfield, MA	$86,730	96.1	270	0.92×
19	Napa, CA	$86,240	112.6	110	0.94×
20	Bozeman, MT	$85,820	102.5	250	2.39×
21	Casper, WY	$84,990	93.8	70	1.14×
22	Colorado Springs, CO	$84,990	100.7	720	1.57×
23	Vallejo, CA	$84,830	108.5	290	1.39×
24	Baton Rouge, LA	$84,710	90.8	940	1.59×
25	Pueblo, CO	$84,580	91.8	140	1.62×
26	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$84,430	106.9	520	0.89×
27	Fresno, CA	$84,140	102.2	750	1.10×
28	Cheyenne, WY	$83,870	96.5	90	1.32×
29	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$83,800	105.4	2,260	1.29×
30	Helena, MT	$83,760	95.7	120	1.89×
31	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$83,640	103.6	4,610	0.71×
32	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$83,560	100.9	150	0.89×
33	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$83,190	106.7	1,930	1.24×
34	Bellingham, WA	$83,130	103.3	220	1.71×
35	Coeur d'Alene, ID	$83,010	98.3	120	1.17×
36	Dubuque, IA	$82,940	87.3	80	0.92×
37	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$82,870	100.1	3,740	0.90×
38	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$82,800	108.6	260	1.45×
39	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$82,730	103.2	190	0.56×
40	Paducah, KY-IL	$82,610	86.1	80	1.14×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where cost estimators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Business Operations Specialists, All Other$83,050
Project Management Specialists$102,320
Human Resources Specialists$75,940
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists$78,760
Management Analysts$101,860
Buyers and Purchasing Agents$77,710
Training and Development Specialists$69,280
Compliance Officers$80,730