Best Cities for Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenderss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenderss 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.
#LocationScore
1MaineState1.49
2WisconsinState1.35
3Pittsburgh, PAMetro1.27
4IowaState1.21
5North DakotaState1.20
6OhioState1.16
7NebraskaState1.15
8PennsylvaniaState1.14
9South DakotaState1.13
10IndianaState1.11
11MichiganState1.11
12Columbus, OHMetro1.11
13OregonState1.10
14Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro1.09
15Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro1.08
16OklahomaState1.06
17Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro1.06
18MissouriState1.05
19IllinoisState1.03
20New HampshireState1.03
21TennesseeState1.03
22VirginiaState1.01
23ArkansasState1.00
24MinnesotaState1.00
25KansasState0.98
26South CarolinaState0.98
27WashingtonState0.98
28Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro0.98
29San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro0.98
30GeorgiaState0.95
31New YorkState0.95
32Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro0.95
33CaliforniaState0.94
34AlabamaState0.93
35KentuckyState0.93
36MississippiState0.93
37North CarolinaState0.93
38New JerseyState0.92
39UtahState0.92
40MassachusettsState0.91
41San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro0.91
42Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro0.90
43New MexicoState0.89
44TexasState0.89
45Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro0.89
46ArizonaState0.86
47Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro0.85
48ConnecticutState0.84
49NevadaState0.84
50FloridaState0.83
51IdahoState0.80
52Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro0.70
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).