Best Cities for Continuous Mining Machine Operatorss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where continuous mining machine operatorss 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	MinnesotaState	1.50	$90,820	$92,673	17%
2	West VirginiaState	1.49	$77,570	$92,126	13%
3	WyomingState	1.48	$85,260	$91,677	14%
4	NevadaState	1.38	$85,590	$85,419	20%
5	IndianaState	1.28	$71,570	$79,083	18%
6	ColoradoState	1.25	$81,110	$76,954	27%
7	IllinoisState	1.24	$74,830	$76,828	21%
8	AlabamaState	1.10	$59,360	$68,152	19%
9	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.06	$60,780	$65,708	23%
10	OhioState	1.04	$58,030	$64,192	22%
11	IdahoState	1.02	$60,990	$63,202	24%
12	MichiganState	1.01	$57,760	$62,579	23%
13	North CarolinaState	1.01	$59,030	$62,532	26%
14	PennsylvaniaState	1.01	$60,780	$62,660	26%
15	FloridaState	1.00	$62,580	$61,655	33%
16	GeorgiaState	0.99	$57,160	$61,199	30%
17	VirginiaState	0.99	$63,480	$61,333	30%
18	ArizonaState	0.98	$60,880	$60,337	30%
19	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	0.97	$54,690	$59,967	27%
20	UtahState	0.96	$59,420	$59,301	30%
21	CaliforniaState	0.92	$62,790	$56,721	43%
22	NebraskaState	0.92	$51,760	$56,568	24%
23	KentuckyState	0.91	$50,020	$56,520	23%
24	ArkansasState	0.90	$47,890	$55,492	22%
25	MissouriState	0.86	$47,280	$53,363	26%
26	New MexicoState	0.86	$48,900	$53,152	26%
27	OklahomaState	0.86	$46,980	$53,085	25%
28	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	0.84	$47,950	$51,670	32%
29	TexasState	0.83	$48,950	$51,203	34%
30	New YorkState	0.67	$46,450	$41,289	48%

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