Top Metros for Postsecondary Foreign Language Teachers: New York Leads, Riverside and Fresno Pay Far More

Across the ten top‑ranked metros for postsecondary foreign language and literature teachers, LaborCove’s data shows large differences in both compensation and scale, even within this small group. The national picture provides a baseline: a median salary of $79,350, national employment of 19,830, and a projected national employment change of -0.2%. Several metros in the top ten have median salaries far above the national median, while one—Trenton‑Princeton—has a median salary slightly below the national figure at $79,060. New York‑Newark‑Jersey City combines the highest LaborCove Geography Score of 64.70 with the largest reported local employment count of 1,460 among these metros, while Riverside‑San Bernardino‑Ontario posts the highest median salary at $171,660 but ranks second overall with a Geography Score of 53.92. These contrasts illustrate that LaborCove’s Geography Score does not simply mirror salary or employment alone, and that national benchmarks and metro‑level differences should be considered together.

Nationally, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary have a median annual salary of $79,350. Total national employment stands at 19,830 positions, providing a sense of the occupation’s overall scale across the United States. The national projected employment growth rate for this occupation is -0.2%. This figure reflects a slight projected decline at the national level but does not specify how any particular state or metro will change. The metro‑level data in this article should therefore be read as a snapshot of salaries, employment counts where reported, and Geography Scores relative to that national context. Within the top ten metros ranked by LaborCove, several locations have median salaries higher than the $79,350 national median, while Trenton‑Princeton has a median salary of $79,060, which is slightly below the national figure. This spread highlights how local compensation can diverge from the national benchmark even among the highest‑scoring metros.

New York‑Newark‑Jersey City, NY‑NJ ranks #1 with a LaborCove Geography Score of 64.70, the highest among the listed metros. It also has the largest reported employment count in the top ten at 1,460 positions for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary. New York’s median annual salary for this occupation is $98,600, which is higher than the national median of $79,350. While this salary is not the highest in the ranking, it sits in the upper segment of the group and is paired with the largest reported employment count. Compared with Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton’s 630 employed and Los Angeles‑Long Beach‑Anaheim’s 800 employed, New York’s 1,460 positions represent a numerically larger reported employment base within this set of metros. These figures illustrate how New York combines a relatively high median salary, the top Geography Score, and the largest reported local employment count among the metros listed.

Riverside‑San Bernardino‑Ontario, CA ranks #2 with a Geography Score of 53.92 and has the highest reported median salary in the top ten at $171,660. Fresno, CA ranks #3 with a Geography Score of 50.63 and a median salary of $167,160, which is slightly lower than Riverside’s figure. Both Riverside’s $171,660 and Fresno’s $167,160 median salaries are substantially higher than the national median salary of $79,350. In employment terms, Riverside has 130 reported positions, and Fresno has 70 reported positions, so Riverside’s employment count is higher than Fresno’s within this pair. When compared with New York‑Newark‑Jersey City’s $98,600 median salary, Riverside and Fresno both show higher median pay but lower reported employment counts than New York’s 1,460 positions. These combinations underscore how top‑ranked metros can differ: some pair very high salaries with smaller reported employment counts, while others combine moderate‑to‑high salaries with much larger reported employment bases.

Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton, MA‑NH holds the #4 rank with a Geography Score of 43.95, and Amherst Town‑Northampton, MA follows at #5 with a score of 43.17. San Francisco‑Oakland‑Fremont, CA ranks #6 with a Geography Score of 42.83, very close to Amherst’s. Median salaries in these three metros fall within a relatively narrow band: Boston at $99,100, Amherst at $99,410, and San Francisco at $115,040. Each of these figures is higher than the national median salary of $79,350. Within this group, San Francisco has the highest median salary, Amherst’s median salary is slightly higher than Boston’s, and both Amherst and San Francisco have Geography Scores that are lower than New York‑Newark‑Jersey City’s 64.70 but above several lower‑ranked metros. Employment data are reported for Boston and San Francisco but not for Amherst. Boston has 630 employed foreign language and literature teachers, while San Francisco has 240. Within this pair, Boston’s reported employment count is higher than San Francisco’s, even though San Francisco has the higher median salary.

Beyond Riverside and Fresno, three more California metros appear in the top ten: Los Angeles‑Long Beach‑Anaheim (#7), Sacramento‑Roseville‑Folsom (#8), and San Jose‑Sunnyvale‑Santa Clara (#9). Their Geography Scores range from 42.70 in Los Angeles to 40.13 in Sacramento and 37.95 in San Jose. Median salaries for these metros differ meaningfully. Los Angeles has a median salary of $83,310, Sacramento’s median is $125,980, and San Jose’s is $96,550. All three median salaries are higher than the national median of $79,350. Within this trio, Sacramento’s median salary of $125,980 is higher than Los Angeles’s $83,310 and San Jose’s $96,550. Employment counts are supplied for Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Jose: Los Angeles has 800 employed foreign language and literature teachers, Sacramento has 130, and San Jose has 190. Los Angeles therefore has a larger reported employment count than both Sacramento and San Jose, while Sacramento’s employment is lower than San Jose’s within this group.

Trenton‑Princeton, NJ appears at #10 with a LaborCove Geography Score of 37.46. Its median salary is $79,060, which is slightly lower than the national median salary of $79,350 for this occupation. Employment is not supplied for Trenton‑Princeton, so no employment comparison can be made for that metro. In contrast, New York‑Newark‑Jersey City’s $98,600 median salary and Riverside‑San Bernardino‑Ontario’s $171,660 salary are both higher than the national median, and both metros rank above Trenton‑Princeton. Several other metros in the top ten—Fresno, Boston‑Cambridge‑Newton, Amherst Town‑Northampton, San Francisco‑Oakland‑Fremont, Los Angeles‑Long Beach‑Anaheim, Sacramento‑Roseville‑Folsom, and San Jose‑Sunnyvale‑Santa Clara—also have median salaries higher than the national median. These relationships underscore two points: first, being in the top ten does not require a median salary above the national figure, as shown by Trenton‑Princeton’s $79,060. Second, LaborCove’s Geography Score creates a ranking that can place metros with very different salary levels, employment counts, and national comparisons alongside each other, providing a structured view of trade‑offs rather than a single salary‑driven ordering.

LaborCove’s metro rankings for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary are based on authoritative labor‑market data and the proprietary LaborCove Geography Score. For each metro, we use reported median annual salary, employment counts where available, and other underlying inputs to calculate a Geography Score, then rank geographies from highest to lowest score. The national figures for median salary, employment, and projected employment growth describe the occupation across the United States as a whole. The supplied national projected growth rate of -0.2% is a national occupational projection only and is not applied to any individual metro area. Because LaborCove’s scoring weights and components are not individually disclosed here, readers should treat the Geography Score and rankings as one structured input into location decisions, alongside their own preferences about pay levels, campus mix, and personal circumstances. The data does not indicate hiring probability or job‑opening volume in any specific metro; it describes compensation, employment counts, and relative Geography Scores as of the 2026 reporting year.