Best Cities for Hoist and Winch Operatorss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where hoist and winch operatorss 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	IllinoisState	2.15	$118,210	$121,366	13%
2	HawaiiState	1.72	$107,100	$97,364	27%
3	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.67	$99,840	$94,367	20%
4	MarylandState	1.62	$99,840	$91,429	20%
5	MinnesotaState	1.42	$78,400	$80,000	20%
6	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.40	$78,400	$78,794	23%
7	New YorkState	1.18	$74,980	$66,649	30%
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.16	$74,840	$65,477	35%
9	MassachusettsState	1.02	$62,240	$57,364	43%
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.00	$64,390	$56,731	48%
11	OregonState	0.96	$55,880	$54,252	34%
12	MissouriState	0.95	$47,510	$53,623	26%
13	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.87	$47,810	$49,187	40%
14	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.85	$46,310	$47,841	42%
15	OhioState	0.84	$43,000	$47,566	29%
16	IndianaState	0.78	$39,750	$43,923	32%
17	MichiganState	0.77	$40,070	$43,413	33%
18	TennesseeState	0.77	$39,930	$43,639	38%
19	GeorgiaState	0.72	$37,870	$40,546	45%
20	WisconsinState	0.70	$36,560	$39,610	36%
21	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	0.69	$35,410	$38,827	41%
22	VirginiaState	0.63	$37,020	$35,768	51%
23	FloridaState	0.59	$33,570	$33,074	61%
24	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.48	$29,120	$26,839	84%

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