Best States for Education Administrators, All Other in 2026: California Tops Overall, Maryland Leads on Pay

Across the top ten states in LaborCove’s rankings for education administrators, all other, the data shows that no single state leads on every metric. California ranks first overall and has the largest reported employment count, while Maryland offers the highest reported median salary. Several other states sit between those two on different combinations of pay, employment, and Geography Score. For career planning, that means the “best” state depends on whether you prioritize higher pay, a larger employment count, or a higher overall Geography Score. The national figures provide context, but the rankings show that states relate differently to that national baseline on each metric.

Nationally, education administrators, all other have a median annual salary of $95,200. Among the top‑ranked states, several have median salaries above that national figure. California’s median salary of $99,650 is higher than the national median, and Maryland’s median of $125,500 is also higher than the national figure. Tennessee at $118,330, Virginia at $108,820, Kansas at $117,810, Colorado at $107,120, Arizona at $117,170, and New Mexico at $113,110 all have median salaries above $95,200 as well. Some top‑ranked states sit closer to the national mark. New York’s median salary of $96,250 is above the national median but closer to it than Maryland or Kansas. Alabama’s median salary of $94,610 is slightly below the national median of $95,200. On employment counts, the national total for this occupation is 55,130. Within that context, California’s employment count of 11,480 represents a substantial share of the roles captured in this dataset. Other listed states have smaller employment counts as supplied, such as Maryland at 2,770, New York at 3,060, Virginia at 1,480, Colorado at 1,070, Arizona at 430, New Mexico at 360, Kansas at 280, and Tennessee at 720. Employment for Alabama is not supplied, so it cannot be directly compared on that metric.

California ranks #1 in LaborCove’s state results for education administrators, all other, with a Geography Score of 71.58. Its median salary of $99,650 is higher than the national median of $95,200. California also has a reported employment count of 11,480, which is the largest employment figure supplied among the top‑ranked states. Compared with other high‑employment states in the top ten, California’s employment count is higher than Maryland’s 2,770 and New York’s 3,060. California’s Geography Score of 71.58 is also higher than the Geography Scores reported for the other nine states in this ranking set, which range from 61.43 in Maryland down to 45.61 in New Mexico. For education administrators who want to anchor their planning around locations with larger reported employment counts while also considering pay and Geography Score, California’s combination of first‑place rank, salary above the national median, and largest supplied employment figure stands out in this dataset.

Maryland ranks #2 overall with a Geography Score of 61.43 and has the highest reported median salary among the top ten states at $125,500. This salary is higher than both the national median of $95,200 and California’s $99,650. Kansas, ranked #5 with a Geography Score of 46.44, has a median salary of $117,810, which is also higher than the national median and higher than California’s median salary. Arizona and Tennessee similarly show high median pay among the top‑ranked states. Arizona, ranked #9 with a Geography Score of 45.64, has a median salary of $117,170. Tennessee, ranked #3 with a Geography Score of 48.37, has a median salary of $118,330. Both Arizona and Tennessee have median salaries higher than the national median and higher than California’s median salary of $99,650. New Mexico, ranked #10 with a Geography Score of 45.61, has a median salary of $113,110. That figure is higher than the national median of $95,200 and higher than California’s $99,650 as well. These comparisons show that several states ranked below California on the overall Geography Score still offer higher reported median salaries in this dataset.

The top‑ten list for education administrators, all other illustrates that salary levels and Geography Scores do not always move in the same direction. California ranks #1 with a Geography Score of 71.58 and a median salary of $99,650, while Maryland ranks #2 with a lower Geography Score of 61.43 but a higher median salary of $125,500. A similar pattern appears when comparing Tennessee and Kansas with California. Tennessee’s Geography Score of 48.37 and Kansas’s 46.44 are both lower than California’s 71.58, yet Tennessee’s $118,330 and Kansas’s $117,810 median salaries are higher than California’s $99,650. Arizona and New Mexico also rank lower than California on Geography Score but have median salaries of $117,170 and $113,110, which are higher than California’s median salary. These differences indicate that LaborCove’s Geography Score incorporates more than just salary, since several states with higher pay levels have lower overall scores and lower ranks than California in the 2026 results.

Within the top ten, states differ not only in pay and Geography Score but also in reported employment counts. California’s employment count of 11,480 is higher than every other supplied state employment figure in this set. New York, ranked #6 with a Geography Score of 46.28, has an employment count of 3,060 and a median salary of $96,250, which is above the national median of $95,200 but below the median salaries reported for Maryland, Tennessee, Kansas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Maryland, ranked #2, combines its high median salary of $125,500 with an employment count of 2,770. That employment figure is lower than California’s 11,480 but higher than Tennessee’s 720, Virginia’s 1,480, Kansas’s 280, Colorado’s 1,070, Arizona’s 430, and New Mexico’s 360. Alabama, ranked #8 with a Geography Score of 45.75 and a median salary of $94,610, does not have a reported employment count in this dataset, so its employment level cannot be compared with other states. For education administrators weighing these top‑ten states, the data shows that some locations combine higher reported salaries with smaller employment counts relative to California and New York, while others blend mid‑range salaries with mid‑range employment counts within this group.

LaborCove builds its state rankings for education administrators, all other using authoritative labor‑market data combined with the LaborCove Geography Score. For each state, we consider the supplied median annual salary, employment counts, and our composite Geography Score, then rank locations accordingly. The national median salary, national employment, and national projected employment growth rate of 2.5% are used as context for interpreting individual state results. The 2.5% figure is a national occupational projection and does not represent any state‑level or metro‑level growth rate. Because the Geography Score is a composite metric, it should be interpreted as a summary of how a state performs across the underlying inputs rather than as a guarantee of individual outcomes. Educators and administrators should weigh these rankings alongside their own priorities, such as preferred regions, institution types, and personal circumstances, which are not captured in this dataset.