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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs Salary: Memphis, TN-MS-AR vs San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs earn a median of $47,530 in Memphis, TN-MS-AR and $95,060 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. That is a nominal gap of $47,530 (-50.0%), with San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$47,530
Memphis, TN-MS-AR median
$51,563 after COL
$95,060
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA median
$86,087 after COL
-50.0%
Nominal gap
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA leads
-40.1%
Adjusted gap
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA pays $47,530 more per year than Memphis, TN-MS-AR for eligibility interviewers, government programs, a gap of +50.0%.

After adjusting for cost of living, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $34,524 of extra purchasing power (+40.1% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for eligibility interviewers, government programs in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs

Memphis, TN-MS-AR

Median salary
$47,530
Mean salary
$49,290
Employment
2,250
Location quotient
3.58
Jobs per 1,000
3.6
COL-adjusted median
$51,563
Regional Price Parity
92.2%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs page for Memphis, TN-MS-AR →

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Median salary
$95,060
Mean salary
$84,460
Employment
1,180
Location quotient
1.03
Jobs per 1,000
1.0
COL-adjusted median
$86,087
Regional Price Parity
110.4%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs page for San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA →

Related pages

Keep digging into eligibility interviewers, government programs from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a metro specializes in.