Best Cities for Extraction Workers, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where extraction workers, all others 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	PennsylvaniaState	1.44	$79,520	$81,979	20%
2	West VirginiaState	1.32	$63,550	$75,475	16%
3	ColoradoState	1.30	$77,890	$73,899	28%
4	IdahoState	1.29	$71,050	$73,627	20%
5	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.21	$66,910	$68,837	28%
6	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.20	$62,820	$68,283	25%
7	NevadaState	1.18	$67,450	$67,315	26%
8	TexasState	1.12	$61,290	$64,111	27%
9	WyomingState	1.11	$59,090	$63,538	20%
10	New YorkState	1.00	$64,180	$57,049	35%
11	ArkansasState	0.96	$47,200	$54,693	22%
12	TennesseeState	0.95	$49,400	$53,989	31%
13	LouisianaState	0.94	$48,070	$53,352	26%
14	MontanaState	0.93	$51,200	$53,112	26%
15	GeorgiaState	0.86	$45,760	$48,994	37%
16	OhioState	0.86	$44,550	$49,281	28%
17	MinnesotaState	0.84	$47,070	$48,031	33%
18	CaliforniaState	0.80	$50,590	$45,700	54%
19	UtahState	0.79	$45,140	$45,050	40%

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