Home / Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels / Best Cities Best Cities for Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vesselss Cities ranked by purchasing power — where captains, mates, and pilots of water vesselss get the most value from their salary after accounting for cost of living. A score above 1.00 means better than national average.
How we calculate this: City Score = (Local Salary ÷ National Median) ÷ (Local Cost ÷ National Avg Cost). A score of 1.20 means 20% better purchasing power than average.
# Location Score Raw Salary Adjusted Salary Rent/Income 1 Tennessee State 1.57 $132,710 $145,038 11% 2 Louisiana State 1.41 $117,160 $130,033 11% 3 Maryland State 1.38 $138,950 $127,244 15% 4 Mississippi State 1.33 $104,220 $122,901 10% 5 Texas State 1.26 $111,390 $116,517 15% 6 Iowa State 1.18 $97,700 $109,529 12% 7 Indiana State 1.10 $92,000 $101,657 14% 8 West Virginia State 1.10 $85,290 $101,295 12% 9 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 1.09 $103,840 $100,329 18% 10 California State 1.08 $110,090 $99,449 25% 11 Washington State 1.05 $103,730 $96,673 22% 12 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 1.05 $113,260 $97,219 24% 13 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro 1.03 $109,080 $95,433 24% 14 Missouri State 1.02 $83,670 $94,436 15% 15 Oregon State 1.02 $97,050 $94,223 20% 16 New York State 1.01 $104,800 $93,156 21% 17 Oklahoma State 0.97 $79,110 $89,390 15% 18 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 0.94 $93,440 $86,679 23% 19 Virginia State 0.92 $87,610 $84,647 22% 20 Alaska State 0.91 $88,230 $84,593 19% 21 New Jersey State 0.90 $90,310 $83,006 24% 22 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro 0.90 $94,150 $83,466 25% 23 Georgia State 0.89 $77,090 $82,537 22% 24 Minnesota State 0.89 $80,920 $82,571 19% 25 Wisconsin State 0.87 $74,390 $80,596 18% 26 Alabama State 0.86 $68,920 $79,127 17% 27 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro 0.86 $76,340 $79,687 24% 28 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro 0.85 $77,180 $78,355 27% 29 Rhode Island State 0.83 $76,790 $76,408 24% 30 Florida State 0.81 $76,040 $74,916 27% 31 Maine State 0.79 $72,770 $72,916 21% 32 North Carolina State 0.79 $69,170 $73,273 23% 33 Delaware State 0.78 $73,280 $72,554 22% 34 Massachusetts State 0.78 $77,950 $71,843 35% 35 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro 0.78 $78,280 $72,147 31% 36 Illinois State 0.77 $69,600 $71,458 23% 37 New Hampshire State 0.77 $75,870 $71,575 25% 38 Connecticut State 0.76 $75,810 $70,455 25% 39 Hawaii State 0.72 $72,960 $66,327 39% 40 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 0.72 $75,130 $66,194 41% 41 Pennsylvania State 0.68 $61,420 $63,320 25% 42 South Carolina State 0.68 $57,660 $62,674 26% 43 Vermont State 0.68 $64,020 $62,459 27% 44 Ohio State 0.67 $56,070 $62,024 22% 45 Arizona State 0.63 $58,700 $58,176 31% 46 Michigan State 0.63 $53,590 $58,061 25% 47 Pittsburgh, PA Metro 0.56 $48,030 $51,924 29% 48 Utah State 0.54 $50,010 $49,910 36% 49 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro 0.48 $40,810 $44,748 36%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).