Best Cities for Layout Workers, Metal and Plastics

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where layout workers, 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	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.69	$123,080	$107,682	21%
2	KansasState	1.38	$79,240	$88,044	16%
3	HawaiiState	1.25	$87,570	$79,609	33%
4	WashingtonState	1.24	$85,300	$79,497	27%
5	MaineState	1.17	$74,530	$74,679	21%
6	OregonState	1.14	$75,020	$72,835	25%
7	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.09	$75,020	$69,592	29%
8	VirginiaState	1.06	$70,260	$67,884	27%
9	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.06	$61,870	$67,840	24%
10	CaliforniaState	1.05	$74,490	$67,290	36%
11	MichiganState	1.04	$61,550	$66,685	22%
12	WisconsinState	1.03	$60,810	$65,883	21%
13	PennsylvaniaState	0.96	$59,350	$61,186	26%
14	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.96	$57,010	$61,632	25%
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.93	$69,010	$59,236	39%
16	MassachusettsState	0.92	$63,880	$58,876	42%
17	FloridaState	0.90	$58,170	$57,310	35%
18	GeorgiaState	0.88	$52,600	$56,317	32%
19	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.88	$64,010	$56,396	48%
20	New YorkState	0.87	$62,700	$55,733	35%
21	TexasState	0.79	$48,220	$50,439	34%
22	TennesseeState	0.74	$43,250	$47,268	35%
23	South CarolinaState	0.71	$41,650	$45,272	36%
24	AlabamaState	0.68	$37,590	$43,157	31%
25	New MexicoState	0.66	$38,560	$41,913	33%

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