Finance · Rankings

Best US Cities for Loan Officers

Top US cities for Loan Officers ranked by estimated median salary, with cost-of-living-adjusted earning power.

Top 10 cities by salary

#	City	Estimated salary	Cost mult.	vs national
1	San Francisco, CA	$92,500	1.45×	+$22,500
2	New York City, NY	$87,200	1.32×	+$17,200
3	Irvine, CA	$86,500	1.30×	+$16,500
4	Oakland, CA	$83,500	1.35×	+$13,500
5	Boston, MA	$83,200	1.22×	+$13,200
6	Yonkers, NY	$82,400	1.20×	+$12,400
7	Honolulu, HI	$81,600	1.30×	+$11,600
8	Scottsdale, AZ	$81,500	1.18×	+$11,500
9	Chicago, IL	$79,800	1.05×	+$9,800
10	Plano, TX	$79,400	1.04×	+$9,400

All 50 cities, ranked

#	City	Salary	Hourly
1	San Francisco, CA	$92,500	$44/hr
2	New York City, NY	$87,200	$42/hr
3	Irvine, CA	$86,500	$42/hr
4	Oakland, CA	$83,500	$40/hr
5	Boston, MA	$83,200	$40/hr
6	Yonkers, NY	$82,400	$40/hr
7	Honolulu, HI	$81,600	$39/hr
8	Scottsdale, AZ	$81,500	$39/hr
9	Chicago, IL	$79,800	$38/hr
10	Plano, TX	$79,400	$38/hr
11	Miami, FL	$79,100	$38/hr
12	Tampa, FL	$78,600	$38/hr
13	Los Angeles, CA	$78,500	$38/hr
14	Newark, NJ	$78,300	$38/hr
15	San Diego, CA	$78,100	$38/hr
16	Wilmington, DE	$77,700	$37/hr
17	Anchorage, AK	$77,700	$37/hr
18	Dallas, TX	$77,300	$37/hr
19	St. Petersburg, FL	$77,300	$37/hr
20	Seattle, WA	$76,900	$37/hr
21	Long Beach, CA	$76,900	$37/hr
22	Anaheim, CA	$76,900	$37/hr
23	Charlotte, NC	$76,400	$37/hr
24	Frisco, TX	$76,200	$37/hr
25	Minneapolis, MN	$75,800	$36/hr
26	Chula Vista, CA	$75,800	$36/hr
27	Milwaukee, WI	$75,100	$36/hr
28	Phoenix, AZ	$75,000	$36/hr
29	Philadelphia, PA	$75,000	$36/hr
30	Atlanta, GA	$75,000	$36/hr
31	Salt Lake City, UT	$75,000	$36/hr
32	Kansas City, MO	$74,300	$36/hr
33	St. Paul, MN	$74,200	$36/hr
34	Portland, OR	$73,900	$36/hr
35	Sacramento, CA	$73,900	$36/hr
36	Riverside, CA	$73,900	$36/hr
37	Nashville, TN	$73,800	$35/hr
38	Madison, WI	$73,800	$35/hr
39	Omaha, NE	$73,500	$35/hr
40	Denver, CO	$73,100	$35/hr
41	Pittsburgh, PA	$72,200	$35/hr
42	Austin, TX	$71,900	$35/hr
43	Baltimore, MD	$71,900	$35/hr
44	Stockton, CA	$71,900	$35/hr
45	Aurora, CO	$71,900	$35/hr
46	Hialeah, FL	$71,900	$35/hr
47	Las Vegas, NV	$71,500	$34/hr
48	Chandler, AZ	$71,500	$34/hr
49	Columbus, OH	$70,900	$34/hr
50	Detroit, MI	$70,900	$34/hr
51	Buffalo, NY	$70,900	$34/hr
52	Henderson, NV	$70,800	$34/hr
53	Reno, NV	$70,800	$34/hr
54	Gilbert, AZ	$70,800	$34/hr
55	Charleston, SC	$70,800	$34/hr
56	Cleveland, OH	$70,500	$34/hr
57	Winston-Salem, NC	$70,500	$34/hr
58	Orlando, FL	$70,400	$34/hr
59	Raleigh, NC	$70,000	$34/hr
60	Virginia Beach, VA	$70,000	$34/hr
61	Chesapeake, VA	$70,000	$34/hr
62	North Las Vegas, NV	$70,000	$34/hr
63	Boise, ID	$70,000	$34/hr
64	Fresno, CA	$70,000	$34/hr
65	Worcester, MA	$70,000	$34/hr
66	Lincoln, NE	$69,700	$34/hr
67	Colorado Springs, CO	$69,600	$33/hr
68	Bakersfield, CA	$69,600	$33/hr
69	Birmingham, AL	$69,300	$33/hr
70	Norfolk, VA	$69,200	$33/hr
71	Jacksonville, FL	$68,800	$33/hr
72	Mesa, AZ	$68,800	$33/hr
73	Houston, TX	$68,500	$33/hr
74	Fort Worth, TX	$68,500	$33/hr
75	Tucson, AZ	$68,500	$33/hr
76	Glendale, AZ	$68,500	$33/hr
77	Garland, TX	$68,500	$33/hr
78	Spokane, WA	$68,500	$33/hr
79	Fort Wayne, IN	$68,500	$33/hr
80	Arlington, TX	$68,100	$33/hr
81	Tallahassee, FL	$68,100	$33/hr
82	Albuquerque, NM	$67,700	$33/hr
83	New Orleans, LA	$67,700	$33/hr
84	San Antonio, TX	$67,300	$32/hr
85	Grand Rapids, MI	$67,300	$32/hr
86	Cincinnati, OH	$66,900	$32/hr
87	Lexington, KY	$66,900	$32/hr
88	Corpus Christi, TX	$66,900	$32/hr
89	Greensboro, NC	$66,900	$32/hr
90	Knoxville, TN	$66,900	$32/hr
91	El Paso, TX	$66,500	$32/hr
92	St. Louis, MO	$66,500	$32/hr
93	Indianapolis, IN	$66,200	$32/hr
94	Louisville, KY	$66,200	$32/hr
95	Memphis, TN	$65,800	$32/hr
96	Oklahoma City, OK	$65,800	$32/hr
97	Toledo, OH	$65,400	$31/hr
98	Lubbock, TX	$65,400	$31/hr
99	Wichita, KS	$64,600	$31/hr
100	Mobile, AL	$64,600	$31/hr

Does location actually decide Loan Officer pay?

Loan Officer work is usually hybrid, so the metro you choose still largely determines what you earn. Pay ranges from $64,600 in Mobile to $92,500 in San Francisco — a spread of 43%.

One practical constraint: this is a licensed occupation (Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) license via NMLS required for mortgage lending). Because licenses do not automatically transfer across state lines, the metros on this list are not equally reachable — some will require you to re-qualify before you can work at all.

Highest-paying is not the same as best-off

Gross pay and what you keep are different lists. In San Francisco, $92,500 against $3,000/month rent leaves roughly $56,500 a year after housing. In Mobile, $64,600 against $850 leaves about $54,400. The top still wins after rent, but by $2,100 rather than the $27,900 the headline suggests.

Why these metros and not others

Pay follows employer concentration more than cost of living. Among the top of this list: San Francisco (Salesforce, Google); New York City (JPMorgan Chase, NYC Health + Hospitals); Irvine (University of California, Irvine, Broadcom). A Loan Officer at a large employer in a metro where finance work clusters will typically out-earn the local median for the role — the ranking reflects where those employers sit.

Salaries are modelled from BLS national medians adjusted for local price level at a wage elasticity below 1 — pay rises with local costs but not proportionally. See our methodology.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which city pays Loan Officers the most?▾

San Francisco, at roughly $92,500. Rent there averages $3,000 a month for a one-bedroom, so about $36,000 of that salary goes to housing before anything else. The metros near the top combine high local costs with concentrated finance employment — the second part is what actually lifts pay above the local baseline.

Should I move to the top-paying metro?▾

It depends what you keep, not what you earn. High-cost metros pay more but not proportionally more — that gap is exactly why the adjusted ranking reorders this list.

Can a Loan Officer earn big-city pay while living somewhere cheaper?▾

Sometimes — this role is usually hybrid, so it is possible in principle. It turns entirely on employer policy: some pay by role regardless of location, most use two to four geographic tiers, and some match the company's headquarters city. Ask which applies before assuming the arbitrage is available.

Do I need a new license to work as a Loan Officer in another state?▾

Often yes. Loan Officer requires Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) license via NMLS required for mortgage lending, issued state by state. Some states have reciprocity agreements that make the transfer routine; others require re-examination. Confirm with the destination board before treating a higher-paying metro as reachable.