Best Cities for Engine and Other Machine Assemblerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where engine and other machine assemblerss 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.
#LocationScore
1Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro1.67
2OhioState1.54
3Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro1.32
4WashingtonState1.26
5MichiganState1.23
6New HampshireState1.23
7Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro1.22
8ArkansasState1.18
9OregonState1.15
10MinnesotaState1.12
11Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro1.11
12WisconsinState1.09
13ConnecticutState1.06
14IdahoState1.05
15MississippiState1.02
16NebraskaState1.01
17ArizonaState1.00
18PennsylvaniaState1.00
19MissouriState0.98
20FloridaState0.97
21IowaState0.96
22IllinoisState0.95
23OklahomaState0.95
24South CarolinaState0.95
25TennesseeState0.95
26San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro0.95
27South DakotaState0.94
28TexasState0.92
29UtahState0.91
30North CarolinaState0.90
31Kansas City, MO-KSMetro0.90
32KansasState0.88
33KentuckyState0.87
34New JerseyState0.87
35Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro0.85
36ColoradoState0.81
37MassachusettsState0.80
38Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro0.80
39CaliforniaState0.79
40Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro0.79
41GeorgiaState0.77
42New YorkState0.77
43Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro0.75
44MarylandState0.67
45VirginiaState0.65
46San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro0.63
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).