Best Cities for Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gass

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where earth drillers, except oil and gass 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	IllinoisState	1.35	$79,080	$81,191	20%
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.30	$89,300	$78,128	30%
3	AlaskaState	1.27	$80,040	$76,740	20%
4	WashingtonState	1.25	$80,490	$75,014	28%
5	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.24	$74,300	$74,673	24%
6	MontanaState	1.23	$71,470	$74,139	19%
7	WisconsinState	1.23	$68,320	$74,020	19%
8	KansasState	1.21	$65,600	$72,889	19%
9	MississippiState	1.19	$60,680	$71,557	18%
10	New JerseyState	1.19	$77,950	$71,645	28%
11	IndianaState	1.15	$62,750	$69,337	20%
12	WyomingState	1.15	$64,450	$69,301	18%
13	MichiganState	1.13	$62,570	$67,790	21%
14	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.13	$73,560	$68,237	29%
15	North DakotaState	1.12	$62,570	$67,570	19%
16	OhioState	1.12	$61,010	$67,489	21%
17	South CarolinaState	1.11	$61,500	$66,848	24%
18	West VirginiaState	1.10	$55,540	$65,962	18%
19	NebraskaState	1.09	$60,200	$65,792	21%
20	New MexicoState	1.09	$60,140	$65,370	21%
21	MinnesotaState	1.08	$63,790	$65,092	24%
22	TennesseeState	1.07	$58,670	$64,120	26%
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.07	$73,090	$64,396	42%
24	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.07	$61,500	$64,196	29%
25	KentuckyState	1.05	$56,160	$63,458	20%
26	OregonState	1.05	$64,920	$63,029	29%
27	South DakotaState	1.05	$57,160	$62,952	20%
28	New HampshireState	1.04	$66,410	$62,651	29%
29	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.04	$60,670	$62,418	31%
30	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.04	$57,840	$62,870	27%
31	LouisianaState	1.03	$55,690	$61,809	23%
32	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.03	$64,360	$62,184	30%
33	ColoradoState	1.02	$64,820	$61,499	34%
34	OklahomaState	1.02	$54,180	$61,220	21%
35	TexasState	1.02	$58,700	$61,402	28%
36	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.02	$56,830	$61,239	27%
37	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	1.02	$58,950	$61,279	32%
38	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.02	$57,040	$61,665	25%
39	ConnecticutState	1.01	$65,710	$61,069	29%
40	IowaState	1.01	$54,000	$60,538	21%
41	NevadaState	1.01	$61,030	$60,908	29%
42	North CarolinaState	1.01	$57,300	$60,699	27%
43	CaliforniaState	1.00	$66,910	$60,443	41%
44	UtahState	1.00	$60,490	$60,369	30%
45	VermontState	1.00	$61,420	$59,922	28%
46	MassachusettsState	0.98	$64,180	$59,152	42%
47	PennsylvaniaState	0.98	$57,400	$59,175	27%
48	ArizonaState	0.97	$58,870	$58,345	31%
49	MissouriState	0.97	$51,530	$58,160	24%
50	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.95	$56,120	$56,975	37%
51	DelawareState	0.94	$57,160	$56,594	28%
52	IdahoState	0.94	$54,830	$56,819	26%
53	MarylandState	0.93	$61,260	$56,099	33%
54	FloridaState	0.91	$55,320	$54,502	37%
55	New YorkState	0.90	$60,860	$54,098	36%
56	AlabamaState	0.89	$46,440	$53,318	25%
57	ArkansasState	0.89	$46,160	$53,488	23%
58	GeorgiaState	0.89	$50,030	$53,565	34%
59	VirginiaState	0.89	$55,470	$53,594	34%
60	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.89	$51,630	$53,337	38%
61	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.88	$59,770	$52,988	40%
62	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.79	$51,360	$47,336	48%
63	MaineState	0.76	$45,560	$45,651	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).