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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Health And Safety Specialists Salary: Joplin, MO-KS vs San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA

Occupational Health And Safety Specialists earn a median of $71,780 in Joplin, MO-KS and $101,920 in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA. That is a nominal gap of $30,140 (-29.6%), with San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, 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.

$71,780
Joplin, MO-KS median
$83,740 after COL
$101,920
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA median
$93,852 after COL
-29.6%
Nominal gap
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA leads
-10.8%
Adjusted gap
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA pays $30,140 more per year than Joplin, MO-KS for occupational health and safety specialists, a gap of +29.6%.

After adjusting for cost of living, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $10,113 of extra purchasing power (+10.8% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for occupational health and safety specialists in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Occupational Health And Safety Specialists

Joplin, MO-KS

Median salary
$71,780
Mean salary
$79,550
Employment
90
Location quotient
1.22
Jobs per 1,000
1.0
COL-adjusted median
$83,740
Regional Price Parity
85.7%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Occupational Health And Safety Specialists page for Joplin, MO-KS →

Occupational Health And Safety Specialists

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA

Median salary
$101,920
Mean salary
$102,460
Employment
80
Location quotient
0.84
Jobs per 1,000
0.7
COL-adjusted median
$93,852
Regional Price Parity
108.6%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Occupational Health And Safety Specialists page for San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA →

Related pages

Keep digging into occupational health and safety specialists 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.