Best Cities for Fabric and Apparel Patternmakerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where fabric and apparel patternmakerss 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	New YorkState	1.43	$101,230	$89,982	22%
2	CaliforniaState	1.28	$89,010	$80,407	31%
3	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.22	$89,010	$76,403	31%
4	PennsylvaniaState	1.08	$65,900	$67,938	24%
5	IndianaState	1.05	$59,400	$65,635	21%
6	MissouriState	1.02	$56,490	$63,758	22%
7	OhioState	0.87	$49,220	$54,447	25%
8	OregonState	0.86	$55,740	$54,117	34%
9	North CarolinaState	0.81	$48,180	$51,038	32%
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.78	$55,540	$48,934	55%
11	MississippiState	0.77	$41,060	$48,420	26%
12	MassachusettsState	0.70	$47,680	$43,945	57%
13	VirginiaState	0.70	$45,390	$43,855	42%
14	TexasState	0.58	$34,930	$36,538	48%
15	FloridaState	0.53	$33,790	$33,291	61%

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