Best Cities for Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastics

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics 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	VirginiaState	1.78	$90,390	$87,333	21%
2	IdahoState	1.47	$69,590	$72,114	21%
3	MassachusettsState	1.46	$77,780	$71,687	35%
4	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.42	$79,120	$69,709	39%
5	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.41	$63,320	$69,430	23%
6	FloridaState	1.33	$66,340	$65,360	31%
7	MichiganState	1.33	$60,410	$65,450	22%
8	OklahomaState	1.27	$55,230	$62,407	21%
9	AlabamaState	1.24	$53,110	$60,976	22%
10	MississippiState	1.20	$49,930	$58,880	22%
11	IllinoisState	1.19	$56,720	$58,234	28%
12	KentuckyState	1.19	$51,740	$58,463	22%
13	OhioState	1.16	$51,670	$57,157	24%
14	New HampshireState	1.15	$59,800	$56,415	32%
15	South CarolinaState	1.15	$52,040	$56,565	29%
16	ArkansasState	1.10	$46,730	$54,148	23%
17	WisconsinState	1.10	$49,640	$53,781	26%
18	West VirginiaState	1.09	$45,060	$53,515	22%
19	MissouriState	1.03	$44,990	$50,779	28%
20	GeorgiaState	1.01	$46,270	$49,540	37%
21	North CarolinaState	1.01	$46,970	$49,756	33%
22	IowaState	1.00	$43,860	$49,170	26%
23	New YorkState	1.00	$55,310	$49,164	40%
24	TennesseeState	1.00	$45,070	$49,257	33%
25	ColoradoState	0.99	$51,280	$48,653	43%
26	MinnesotaState	0.98	$47,010	$47,969	33%
27	ArizonaState	0.97	$48,140	$47,711	37%
28	PennsylvaniaState	0.97	$46,370	$47,804	34%
29	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.97	$46,270	$47,800	42%
30	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	0.96	$47,010	$47,246	38%
31	TexasState	0.95	$44,350	$46,391	37%
32	CaliforniaState	0.90	$49,080	$44,336	55%
33	New JerseyState	0.90	$47,870	$43,998	45%
34	IndianaState	0.88	$39,110	$43,215	32%
35	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.88	$40,170	$43,427	35%
36	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.86	$49,080	$42,129	55%
37	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	0.86	$50,920	$42,363	74%
38	ConnecticutState	0.78	$41,080	$38,178	46%

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