Find the Best Colleges in Each State

We ranked the best colleges in each state based on Salary Score, which allows prospective students to see how schools stack up in terms of alumni earnings. While future salary may not be the primary consideration in every student's college search, Salary Score is one meaningful metric that students can use alongside other factors that are important to them. Each college’s Salary Score is calculated by comparing alumni salaries for each program to alumni salaries for the same program nationwide. Data is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard and reflects median alumni earnings in the first year after graduation for students who received federal financial aid. For more information, read our methodology. We’ve listed some popular states below, alongside their repsective Salary Score, for students interested in attending school in a particular location.

Popular States

California

College		Salary Score™
#1	Santa Clara University	98.23
#2	Stanford University	97.52
#3	Dominican University of California	97.21

New York

College		Salary Score™
#1	Barnard College	96.41
#2	Colgate University	94.44
#3	Columbia University in the City of New York	94.23

Texas

College		Salary Score™
#1	Southern Methodist University	89.62
#2	Rice University	84.11
#3	The University of Texas at Austin	83.25

Florida

College		Salary Score™
#1	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach	82.10
#3	Lynn University	61.18
#4	Barry University	54.10

Illinois

College		Salary Score™
#1	Northwestern University	93.57
#2	University of Chicago	91.77
#3	University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign	75.30

Pennsylvania

College		Salary Score™
#1	University of Pennsylvania	98.85
#2	Carnegie Mellon University	97.66
#3	Bucknell University	92.94