Under the right circumstances, careers in the field of finance tend to pay quite handsomely, and one of these circumstances is related to job location. A financial planner or investment analyst can earn a significant paycheck each month, but the cost of living in certain cities will determine how far the salary will go. In the United States, it is easier for professionals in the finance sector to find job opportunities in the five cities listed below:

Miami

The Magic City is mostly known for tourism, fashion, and entertainment, but it is important to remember that this is the financial capital of Florida and Latin America. Miami is one of the best places for bilingual professionals to find work in the field of finance; an underwriter processing title loans in Orlando will likely earn a higher salary in Miami if they’re fluent in Spanish, but they will also have to adjust to the higher cost of living.

San Francisco

This majestic city in California is the headquarters of the global venture capital industry, which means that there is no shortage of job opportunities for accountants, investment analysts, and portfolio managers. The City by the Bay is also home to the main offices of Charles Schwab and Franklin Templeton, two of the biggest names in retail stock investments. Although San Francisco offers a great quality of life, the cost of living is one of the highest in the country; in 2016, the average rent payment on a one-bedroom apartment was more than $3,400 per month.

New York

Even though London has been considered to be the financial capital of the world for most of the 21st century, the Brexit referendum for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union is causing an exodus of financial firms from this capital city, which means that New York has regained that title. As long as Wall Street continues to operate in Manhattan, there will be plenty of jobs for financial professionals who seek to relocate here. The bullish run of the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 investment benchmarks over the last few years has created ample employment opportunities for investment professionals.

Charlotte

When it comes to retail banking, no other city has a higher concentration of major companies than Charlotte. By virtue of being home to Bank of America, quite a few other major banks have also chosen to make this North Carolina city their headquarters. The best part about Charlotte is that its median annual salary of $67,470 for financial professionals is more than adequate to cover the cost of living; after all, this is a city where a small house can be rented for just $1,000 per month. 

Seattle

This city has achieved the distinction of being known as the Silicon Valley of the Pacific Northwest due to its growing tech sector that is spearheaded by companies such as Microsoft and Amazon. Seattle is a major center of innovation and development in the burgeoning financial technology sector, which is becoming known as “fintech.” The median salary in Seattle is adequate for its cost of living, and the quality of life is one of the highest in the United States. 

Two other cities that financial professionals should consider include Lincoln and Omaha in Nebraska, where most of the American insurance industry is concentrated, and where the cost of living is substantially lower than in the rest of the cities listed herein.