Best Cities for Costume Attendantss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where costume attendantss 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	GeorgiaState	2.02	$94,890	$101,595	18%
2	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.95	$94,900	$98,037	20%
3	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.82	$106,810	$91,682	25%
4	New YorkState	1.68	$95,230	$84,649	23%
5	CaliforniaState	1.29	$72,030	$65,068	38%
6	WashingtonState	1.20	$64,650	$60,252	35%
7	Columbus, OHMetro	1.17	$55,310	$59,155	28%
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.15	$69,930	$58,178	54%
9	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.14	$59,420	$57,411	32%
10	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.14	$65,460	$57,270	40%
11	NevadaState	1.10	$55,640	$55,529	31%
12	ColoradoState	1.09	$57,960	$54,991	38%
13	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.07	$49,660	$53,686	28%
14	MinnesotaState	1.05	$52,000	$53,061	30%
15	HawaiiState	1.04	$57,660	$52,418	50%
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.04	$52,000	$52,261	34%
17	PennsylvaniaState	1.03	$50,270	$51,825	31%
18	OhioState	1.02	$46,330	$51,250	27%
19	MassachusettsState	1.01	$55,190	$50,866	49%
20	IllinoisState	1.00	$49,170	$50,483	32%
21	OregonState	1.00	$51,680	$50,175	37%
22	TennesseeState	0.98	$45,220	$49,421	33%
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.98	$56,000	$49,339	55%
24	UtahState	0.95	$47,850	$47,754	37%
25	District of ColumbiaState	0.93	$53,290	$46,623	47%
26	MissouriState	0.91	$40,800	$46,050	30%
27	VirginiaState	0.90	$46,790	$45,208	40%
28	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.90	$51,280	$45,461	47%
29	KentuckyState	0.83	$37,240	$42,079	31%
30	WisconsinState	0.83	$38,470	$41,679	34%
31	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.83	$45,010	$41,753	48%
32	AlabamaState	0.82	$35,910	$41,228	32%
33	ConnecticutState	0.82	$44,550	$41,403	42%
34	New JerseyState	0.82	$45,010	$41,369	48%
35	FloridaState	0.80	$40,680	$40,079	51%
36	IndianaState	0.75	$34,160	$37,746	37%
37	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	0.75	$35,100	$37,823	44%
38	ArizonaState	0.74	$37,430	$37,096	48%
39	South CarolinaState	0.72	$33,510	$36,424	45%
40	North CarolinaState	0.71	$33,920	$35,932	46%
41	MichiganState	0.69	$31,920	$34,583	42%
42	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.69	$33,510	$34,979	54%
43	TexasState	0.59	$28,440	$29,749	58%
44	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.55	$27,090	$27,870	70%
45	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.53	$24,410	$26,533	64%

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