American postdoctoral salaries do not account for growing disparities in cost of living
Tim Sainburg

TL;DR
This study reveals that American postdoctoral salaries do not adjust for regional cost-of-living differences, leading to significant disparities that may impact diversity and faculty hiring equity.
Contribution
It provides a comprehensive analysis showing postdoc wages ignore cost-of-living variations, highlighting a growing pay gap in high-cost cities.
Findings
Postdoc salaries do not reflect regional cost-of-living differences.
Real salaries vary by 29% between least and most expensive areas.
High-cost cities face greater disparities impacting disadvantaged groups.
Abstract
The National Institute of Health (NIH) sets postdoctoral (postdoc) trainee stipend levels that many American institutions and investigators use as a basis for postdoc salaries. Although salary standards are held constant across universities, the cost of living in those universities' cities and towns vary widely. Across non-postdoc jobs, more expensive cities pay workers higher wages that scale with an increased cost of living. This work investigates the extent to which postdoc wages account for cost-of-living differences. More than 27,000 postdoc salaries across all US universities are analyzed alongside measures of regional differences in cost of living. We find that postdoc salaries do not account for cost-of-living differences, in contrast with the broader labor market in the same cities and towns. Despite a modest increase in income in high cost of living areas, real (cost of living…
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Taxonomy
TopicsDiversity and Career in Medicine · COVID-19 and healthcare impacts · Health and Medical Research Impacts
Methods7 Fastest Ways to Call American Airlines Reservations Number (USA Guide)
