Home / Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic / Best Cities Best Cities for Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastics Cities ranked by purchasing power — where heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics 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 West Virginia State 1.39 $56,880 $67,553 18% 2 Columbus, OH Metro 1.37 $62,530 $66,877 25% 3 Pittsburgh, PA Metro 1.31 $58,890 $63,665 24% 4 Tennessee State 1.23 $54,930 $60,033 27% 5 Ohio State 1.20 $52,880 $58,496 24% 6 Oklahoma State 1.20 $51,680 $58,395 22% 7 Oregon State 1.20 $60,280 $58,524 32% 8 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro 1.20 $56,280 $58,503 33% 9 Washington State 1.19 $61,990 $57,773 37% 10 Iowa State 1.14 $49,760 $55,785 23% 11 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro 1.14 $50,790 $55,691 29% 12 Colorado State 1.13 $58,300 $55,313 38% 13 Mississippi State 1.13 $46,630 $54,988 23% 14 Michigan State 1.12 $50,560 $54,778 27% 15 Alabama State 1.11 $46,920 $53,869 25% 16 Missouri State 1.11 $47,980 $54,153 26% 17 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 1.11 $58,250 $54,035 37% 18 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro 1.11 $61,990 $54,234 43% 19 Kentucky State 1.09 $47,090 $53,209 24% 20 Virginia State 1.09 $55,070 $53,208 34% 21 Wisconsin State 1.09 $49,100 $53,196 27% 22 Kansas State 1.08 $47,500 $52,778 26% 23 Nebraska State 1.08 $48,120 $52,590 26% 24 Indiana State 1.06 $46,860 $51,779 27% 25 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro 1.05 $49,100 $51,253 37% 26 South Carolina State 1.04 $46,750 $50,815 32% 27 Arizona State 1.03 $50,660 $50,208 35% 28 Pennsylvania State 1.03 $48,800 $50,309 32% 29 New Hampshire State 1.01 $52,250 $49,292 36% 30 North Carolina State 1.01 $46,660 $49,428 33% 31 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 1.01 $55,650 $49,031 55% 32 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro 1.01 $48,060 $49,444 40% 33 Utah State 0.98 $47,860 $47,764 37% 34 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 0.98 $49,470 $47,797 39% 35 Georgia State 0.97 $44,050 $47,163 39% 36 New York State 0.97 $52,940 $47,058 42% 37 Florida State 0.96 $47,370 $46,670 44% 38 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro 0.96 $45,110 $46,601 43% 39 Illinois State 0.95 $45,340 $46,550 35% 40 Maine State 0.94 $45,590 $45,681 34% 41 New Jersey State 0.94 $49,640 $45,625 43% 42 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro 0.94 $49,620 $45,733 49% 43 California State 0.93 $50,150 $45,303 54% 44 Massachusetts State 0.93 $49,280 $45,419 55% 45 Arkansas State 0.89 $37,590 $43,557 28% 46 Texas State 0.89 $41,690 $43,609 40% 47 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 0.87 $49,680 $42,644 55% 48 Minnesota State 0.86 $41,100 $41,939 37% 49 Connecticut State 0.85 $44,350 $41,217 42% 50 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro 0.81 $36,510 $39,685 43% 51 Louisiana State 0.80 $35,180 $39,046 36%
Data Sources: Salary: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS). Cost of Living: BEA Regional Price Parities (2024). Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2025).