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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Philosophy And Religion Teachers, Postsecondary Salary: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD vs San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

Philosophy And Religion Teachers, Postsecondary earn a median of $76,590 in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD and $107,530 in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA. That is a nominal gap of $30,940 (-28.8%), with San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, 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.

$76,590
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD median
$74,683 after COL
$107,530
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA median
$96,106 after COL
-28.8%
Nominal gap
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA leads
-22.3%
Adjusted gap
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA pays $30,940 more per year than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD for philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary, a gap of +28.8%.

After adjusting for cost of living, San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA still comes out ahead, with roughly $21,423 of extra purchasing power (+22.3% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Philosophy And Religion Teachers, Postsecondary

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

Median salary
$76,590
Mean salary
$84,860
Employment
540
Location quotient
1.40
Jobs per 1,000
0.2
COL-adjusted median
$74,683
Regional Price Parity
102.6%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Philosophy And Religion Teachers, Postsecondary page for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD →

Philosophy And Religion Teachers, Postsecondary

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

Median salary
$107,530
Mean salary
$123,910
Employment
130
Location quotient
0.63
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$96,106
Regional Price Parity
111.9%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Philosophy And Religion Teachers, Postsecondary page for San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA →

Related pages

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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.