Best Cities for Logging Workers, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where logging workers, all others 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	LouisianaState	1.77	$80,930	$89,822	16%
2	WashingtonState	1.24	$67,650	$63,048	34%
3	MichiganState	1.15	$54,140	$58,657	25%
4	OregonState	1.11	$57,890	$56,204	33%
5	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.07	$58,840	$54,583	37%
6	North CarolinaState	1.01	$48,460	$51,335	32%
7	West VirginiaState	0.98	$41,790	$49,632	24%
8	MississippiState	0.87	$37,370	$44,068	29%
9	CaliforniaState	0.84	$47,490	$42,900	57%
10	VirginiaState	0.82	$42,910	$41,459	44%
11	GeorgiaState	0.73	$34,870	$37,334	49%

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