Best Cities for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenderss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenderss 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	North DakotaState	1.86	$77,300	$83,477	15%
2	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.66	$78,750	$74,433	26%
3	VirginiaState	1.28	$59,260	$57,256	32%
4	ColoradoState	1.26	$59,590	$56,537	37%
5	MarylandState	1.23	$60,170	$55,101	33%
6	KentuckyState	1.22	$48,540	$54,847	24%
7	NevadaState	1.22	$54,950	$54,840	32%
8	IowaState	1.20	$47,960	$53,767	24%
9	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.20	$49,570	$53,589	29%
10	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.19	$60,170	$53,342	40%
11	AlaskaState	1.18	$55,280	$53,001	30%
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.18	$60,230	$52,695	44%
13	ArkansasState	1.17	$45,080	$52,236	23%
14	MichiganState	1.17	$48,240	$52,264	28%
15	WisconsinState	1.17	$48,560	$52,611	27%
16	MinnesotaState	1.15	$50,340	$51,367	31%
17	PennsylvaniaState	1.14	$49,660	$51,196	31%
18	IdahoState	1.12	$48,250	$50,000	30%
19	MaineState	1.12	$50,220	$50,321	31%
20	South DakotaState	1.11	$45,040	$49,604	26%
21	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.11	$46,180	$49,763	33%
22	KansasState	1.10	$44,550	$49,500	28%
23	MissouriState	1.09	$43,460	$49,052	29%
24	OhioState	1.09	$44,190	$48,883	28%
25	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.08	$48,000	$48,241	37%
26	IndianaState	1.07	$43,370	$47,923	29%
27	OklahomaState	1.07	$42,390	$47,898	27%
28	UtahState	1.07	$47,940	$47,844	37%
29	NebraskaState	1.06	$43,410	$47,443	29%
30	WashingtonState	1.05	$50,590	$47,148	45%
31	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.04	$48,330	$46,696	40%
32	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.03	$49,920	$46,308	43%
33	OregonState	1.00	$46,250	$44,903	41%
34	MississippiState	0.97	$37,030	$43,667	29%
35	New YorkState	0.97	$49,020	$43,573	45%
36	South CarolinaState	0.97	$40,000	$43,478	38%
37	ArizonaState	0.95	$43,010	$42,626	42%
38	LouisianaState	0.95	$38,440	$42,664	33%
39	TennesseeState	0.95	$39,130	$42,765	39%
40	MassachusettsState	0.93	$45,400	$41,843	60%
41	CaliforniaState	0.92	$45,600	$41,192	60%
42	HawaiiState	0.92	$45,390	$41,264	63%
43	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.91	$46,120	$40,634	66%
44	GeorgiaState	0.89	$37,390	$40,032	45%
45	VermontState	0.89	$40,990	$39,990	42%
46	IllinoisState	0.88	$38,230	$39,251	41%
47	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.88	$37,590	$39,238	48%
48	ConnecticutState	0.87	$41,720	$38,773	45%
49	TexasState	0.87	$37,140	$38,849	45%
50	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.87	$37,820	$39,070	51%
51	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.87	$38,060	$39,156	50%
52	New MexicoState	0.86	$35,480	$38,565	35%
53	North CarolinaState	0.85	$35,980	$38,114	43%
54	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.84	$43,940	$37,717	62%
55	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.83	$34,170	$37,141	46%
56	MontanaState	0.82	$35,360	$36,680	38%
57	FloridaState	0.78	$35,340	$34,818	58%
58	New JerseyState	0.76	$37,140	$34,136	58%
59	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.74	$35,840	$33,032	68%

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