This Map Shows the Highest-Paying Company in Every State Right Now

Think joining a tech company is your best route to a top-paying job? In fact, it may depend a lot on where you live.

While a job in software development can easily earn you six-figures, the top paying employer in many states is in the health care sector, according to an analysis of median pay in annual government filings by publicly traded companies.

Who is the best-paying employer in your state?

One Pennsylvania-based company — Madrigal Pharmaceuticals — pays its workers a median salary of $804,000. The biopharmaceutical company develops treatment for cardiometabolic and fatty liver disease. In fact, in over a quarter of U.S. states, it's a company in the health care industry that pays its workers the most money.

In 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission mandated that public companies disclose pay ratios between CEOs and their employees — that is, how much money a CEO is pocketing for themselves compared to paying their employees.

The AFL-CIO built a public database using these numbers, with the ability to sort salaries by state and industry. We used this data to examine median pay by state for companies in the Russell 3,000, an index of the 3,000 largest publicly traded companies by stock market value.

Median salary — the midpoint on a company's payroll — can be a better indicator of how well companies pay their employees since the average salary is usually inflated by high pay among top executives.

Of course, median wage can only tell you so much about how generously a particular company pays its workers. Companies with a small number of highly-skilled employees may have higher median-salaries than larger companies with a mix of both highly-skilled and lesser-skilled workers.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, for example, employs only 17 people full time, according to their most recent 10-K filing. Many of which have a science-based background.

There are exceptions, though. SAGE Therapeutics — a biopharmaceutical company, based in Massachusetts, that develops drugs for central nervous system disorders — pays its 637 workers a median salary of $589,166. Textron — headquartered in Rhode Island and maker of Arctic Cat snowmobiles, Bell helicopters, and other aircraft — employs 35,000 people and manages to give out a median salary just under six-figures at $97,580.

The best paying company in every state:

Alabama
Company: Warrior Met. Coal
Median Salary: $97,120
Industry: Energy and Mining

Alaska
Company: Northrim BanCorp
Median Salary: $64,640
Industry: Financial Services

Arizona
Company: Accelerate Diagnostics
Median Salary: $194,343
Industry: Health Care

Arkansas
Company: Murphy Oil
Median Salary: $140,965
Industry: Energy and Mining

California
Company: Corcept Therapeutics
Median Salary: $681,316
Industry: Health Care

Colorado
Company: Royal Gold
Median Salary: $431,560
Industry: Energy and Mining

Connecticut
Company: Aircastle
Median Salary: $236,483
Industry: Industrials

Delaware
Company: Incyte
Median Salary: $228,006
Industry: Health Care

Florida
Company: Citrix Systems
Median Salary: $170,433
Industry: Technology

Georgia
Company: CatchMark Timber Trust
Median Salary: $197,679
Industry: Financial Services

Hawaii
Company: Matson
Median Salary: $109,743
Industry: Financial Services

Idaho
Company: IDACORP
Median Salary: $133,066
Industry: Energy and Mining

Illinois
Company: Equity Commonwealth
Median Salary: $261,090
Industry: Financial Services

Indiana
Company: Assembly Biosciences
Median Salary: $276,726
Industry: Health Care

Iowa
Company: Renewable Energy Group
Median Salary: $93,181
Industry: Energy and Mining

Kansas
Company: YRC Worldwide
Median Salary: $84,352
Industry: Industrials

Kentucky
Company: Humana
Median Salary: $70,498
Industry: Health Care

Louisiana
Company: Entergy
Median Salary: $123,392
Industry: Energy and Mining

Maine
Company: WEX
Median Salary: $58,919
Industry: Technology

Maryland
Company: Hannon Armstrong
Median Salary: $230,951
Industry: Financial Services

Massachusetts
Company: SAGE Therapeutics
Median Salary: $589,166
Industry: Health Care

Michigan
Company: Esperion Therapeutics
Median Salary: $601,841
Industry: Health Care

Minnesota
Company: Piper Jaffray
Median Salary: $179,011
Industry: Financial Services

Mississippi
Company: EastGroup Properties
Median Salary: $89,366
Industry: Financial Services

Missouri
Company: Peabody Energy
Median Salary: $139,423
Industry: Mining and Energy

Montana
Company: Glacier Bancorp
Median Salary: $49,100
Industry: Financial Services

Nebraska
Company: TD Ameritrade
Median Salary: $87,721
Industry: Financial Services

Nevada
Company: VirnetX
Median Salary: $447,627
Industry: Technology

New Hampshire
Company: UNITIL
Median Salary: $98,518
Industry: Energy and Mining

New Jersey
Company: Celgene
Median Salary: $263,237
Industry: Health Care

New Mexico
Company: PNM Resources
Median Salary: $108,411
Industry: Energy and Mining

New York
Company: Ladder Capital
Median Salary: $365,752
Industry: Financial Services

North Carolina
Company: BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
Median Salary: $205,224
Industry: Health Care

North Dakota
Company: MDU Resources Group
Median Salary: $77,268
Industry: Energy and Mining

Ohio
Company: Diamond Hill Investment Group
Median Salary: $256,300
Industry: Financial Services

Oklahoma
Company: Laredo Petroleum
Median Salary: $158,562
Industry: Energy and Mining

Oregon
Company: Portland General Electric
Median Salary: $118,209
Industry: Energy and Mining

Pennsylvania
Company: Madrigal Pharmaceuticals
Median Salary: $804,000
Industry: Health Care

Rhode Island
Company: Textron
Median Salary: $97,580
Industry: Industrials

South Carolina
Company: Blackbaud
Median Salary: $90,144
Industry: Technology

South Dakota
Company: NorthWestern
Median Salary: $115,264
Industry: Energy and Mining

Tennessee
Company: National Health Investors
Median Salary: $209,777
Industry: Health Care

Texas
Company: Kosmos Energy
Median Salary: $296,213
Industry: Energy and Mining

Utah
Company: Franklin Covey
Median Salary: $89,316
Industry: Industrials

Vermont
Company: Casella Waste Systems
Median Salary: $43,248
Industry: Industrials

Virginia
Company: Arlington Asset Investment
Median Salary: $461,985
Industry: Financial Services

Washington
Company: Seattle Genetics
Median Salary: $198,658
Industry: Health Care

West Virginia
Company: MVB Financial
Median Salary: $61,260
Industry: Financial Services

Wisconsin
Company: Artisan Partners Asset Management
Median Salary: $201,687
Industry: Financial Services

Wyoming
No data available