Best Cities for Communications Equipment Operators, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where communications equipment operators, all others 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	MissouriState	1.80	$87,030	$98,228	14%
2	CaliforniaState	1.31	$79,450	$71,771	34%
3	TexasState	1.12	$58,410	$61,098	28%
4	MichiganState	1.03	$51,920	$56,251	26%
5	MinnesotaState	1.02	$54,500	$55,612	28%
6	LouisianaState	0.99	$48,560	$53,896	26%
7	OhioState	0.96	$47,360	$52,389	26%
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.95	$60,630	$52,043	45%
9	MassachusettsState	0.92	$54,500	$50,230	50%
10	North CarolinaState	0.90	$46,430	$49,184	34%

Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).