Best Cities for Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectorss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectorss 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	OhioState	1.24	$129,560	$143,319	10%
2	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	1.20	$127,640	$137,989	11%
3	Columbus, OHMetro	1.18	$126,780	$135,594	12%
4	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.15	$122,090	$132,707	13%
5	LouisianaState	1.14	$118,490	$131,509	11%
6	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.14	$127,540	$131,214	15%
7	TexasState	1.12	$123,440	$129,121	13%
8	PennsylvaniaState	1.09	$121,730	$125,495	13%
9	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.08	$124,300	$124,925	14%
10	New HampshireState	1.07	$130,500	$123,113	15%
11	KentuckyState	1.06	$107,760	$121,763	11%
12	MinnesotaState	1.06	$120,050	$122,500	13%
13	AlabamaState	1.05	$105,490	$121,114	11%
14	MassachusettsState	1.05	$131,210	$120,931	21%
15	NevadaState	1.05	$121,660	$121,417	14%
16	IowaState	1.04	$106,350	$119,226	11%
17	CaliforniaState	1.03	$131,540	$118,826	21%
18	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.03	$113,130	$118,090	16%
19	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.03	$108,500	$118,969	13%
20	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.03	$122,480	$118,338	16%
21	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.03	$143,050	$119,010	26%
22	ArkansasState	1.02	$101,590	$117,717	10%
23	DelawareState	1.02	$118,440	$117,267	14%
24	WashingtonState	1.02	$126,590	$117,978	18%
25	MichiganState	1.01	$107,780	$116,771	12%
26	OklahomaState	1.01	$102,890	$116,260	11%
27	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.01	$124,960	$115,918	17%
28	ColoradoState	1.00	$120,950	$114,753	18%
29	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.00	$106,540	$114,806	14%
30	IllinoisState	0.99	$111,370	$114,343	14%
31	KansasState	0.99	$102,690	$114,100	12%
32	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.99	$129,820	$113,578	20%
33	GeorgiaState	0.98	$105,880	$113,362	16%
34	NebraskaState	0.98	$103,230	$112,820	12%
35	North CarolinaState	0.98	$106,800	$113,136	15%
36	OregonState	0.98	$116,020	$112,641	16%
37	South CarolinaState	0.98	$104,120	$113,174	14%
38	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.98	$128,600	$113,304	24%
39	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.98	$131,540	$112,910	21%
40	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.97	$125,760	$111,489	19%
41	New JerseyState	0.95	$119,370	$109,715	18%
42	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.95	$105,960	$109,463	18%
43	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.94	$106,490	$108,112	19%
44	ConnecticutState	0.93	$115,640	$107,472	16%
45	UtahState	0.93	$106,980	$106,766	17%
46	ArizonaState	0.92	$106,370	$105,421	17%
47	IdahoState	0.89	$98,860	$102,446	15%
48	MississippiState	0.89	$87,180	$102,807	12%
49	New MexicoState	0.89	$94,640	$102,870	13%
50	MarylandState	0.88	$110,950	$101,603	18%
51	MissouriState	0.88	$89,820	$101,377	14%
52	MontanaState	0.88	$97,670	$101,317	14%
53	VirginiaState	0.88	$104,920	$101,372	18%
54	FloridaState	0.87	$101,790	$100,286	20%
55	WisconsinState	0.87	$92,700	$100,433	14%
56	AlaskaState	0.85	$102,690	$98,456	16%
57	Rhode IslandState	0.82	$94,620	$94,149	19%
58	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.82	$101,990	$94,000	24%
59	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.81	$98,830	$93,412	20%
60	IndianaState	0.80	$83,240	$91,978	15%
61	West VirginiaState	0.79	$76,700	$91,093	13%
62	New YorkState	0.78	$101,300	$90,044	22%
63	MaineState	0.71	$82,140	$82,305	19%
64	HawaiiState	0.65	$82,300	$74,818	35%

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