Start with the answer
Communications Teachers, Postsecondary pay in Columbia, MO and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Communications Teachers, Postsecondary is $78,270 per year in Columbia, MO. It is $180,650 per year in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA. Columbia, MO is 56.7% below Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 25-1122 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 120 wage and salary jobs in Columbia, MO and 300 in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings