Home / Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders / Best Cities Best Cities for Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenderss Cities ranked by purchasing power — where furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle 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 Kentucky State 1.78 $75,620 $85,446 15% 2 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro 1.52 $77,440 $73,195 26% 3 Maryland State 1.48 $77,440 $70,916 26% 4 Kansas State 1.44 $62,350 $69,278 20% 5 Wyoming State 1.39 $62,130 $66,806 19% 6 North Dakota State 1.35 $60,170 $64,978 20% 7 Illinois State 1.34 $62,870 $64,548 25% 8 Wisconsin State 1.27 $56,140 $60,823 23% 9 Idaho State 1.24 $57,690 $59,782 25% 10 Alabama State 1.21 $50,600 $58,094 23% 11 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro 1.21 $53,090 $58,213 28% 12 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 1.18 $58,460 $56,483 33% 13 Missouri State 1.16 $49,470 $55,835 25% 14 Montana State 1.15 $53,250 $55,239 25% 15 Washington State 1.14 $58,580 $54,595 39% 16 Georgia State 1.13 $50,820 $54,411 33% 17 West Virginia State 1.13 $45,690 $54,264 22% 18 Indiana State 1.12 $48,770 $53,890 26% 19 Pittsburgh, PA Metro 1.11 $49,140 $53,124 29% 20 Colorado State 1.10 $55,770 $52,913 40% 21 Louisiana State 1.10 $47,820 $53,074 26% 22 South Dakota State 1.10 $48,200 $53,084 24% 23 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro 1.10 $60,160 $52,633 44% 24 Mississippi State 1.09 $44,370 $52,323 24% 25 South Carolina State 1.09 $48,170 $52,359 31% 26 Iowa State 1.07 $45,910 $51,469 25% 27 Michigan State 1.07 $47,410 $51,365 28% 28 Vermont State 1.07 $52,560 $51,278 33% 29 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 1.07 $55,470 $51,456 39% 30 Ohio State 1.06 $46,190 $51,095 27% 31 Pennsylvania State 1.06 $49,610 $51,144 31% 32 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro 1.06 $49,150 $51,091 38% 33 Arkansas State 1.05 $43,560 $50,475 24% 34 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro 1.04 $48,540 $50,145 40% 35 Oregon State 1.03 $50,820 $49,340 38% 36 Columbus, OH Metro 1.03 $46,160 $49,369 34% 37 Massachusetts State 1.02 $53,300 $49,124 51% 38 Tennessee State 1.02 $44,710 $48,863 34% 39 Oklahoma State 1.01 $42,970 $48,554 27% 40 Maine State 1.00 $48,060 $48,156 32% 41 Minnesota State 1.00 $47,210 $48,173 33% 42 New Jersey State 1.00 $52,440 $48,199 41% 43 Virginia State 1.00 $49,650 $47,971 38% 44 Texas State 0.98 $45,040 $47,113 37% 45 New Hampshire State 0.97 $49,250 $46,462 39% 46 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro 0.97 $45,170 $46,471 42% 47 Nebraska State 0.95 $41,650 $45,519 30% 48 Utah State 0.95 $45,610 $45,519 39% 49 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro 0.95 $43,850 $45,772 41% 50 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 0.95 $45,490 $45,719 39% 51 Arizona State 0.92 $44,530 $44,133 40% 52 New York State 0.91 $49,280 $43,804 45% 53 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro 0.91 $52,830 $43,952 71% 54 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 0.88 $48,130 $42,405 64% 55 Florida State 0.87 $42,400 $41,773 49% 56 North Carolina State 0.87 $39,310 $41,642 40% 57 California State 0.85 $45,300 $40,921 60% 58 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 0.70 $38,900 $33,391 70%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).