Best Cities for Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where painting, coating, and decorating workerss 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	NevadaState	1.44	$60,190	$60,070	29%
2	WashingtonState	1.37	$61,210	$57,046	37%
3	MissouriState	1.32	$48,560	$54,808	26%
4	OhioState	1.31	$49,080	$54,292	26%
5	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.30	$50,160	$54,052	31%
6	IowaState	1.26	$46,670	$52,321	24%
7	WisconsinState	1.26	$48,330	$52,362	27%
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.24	$59,170	$51,767	45%
9	ColoradoState	1.23	$54,070	$51,300	41%
10	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.21	$48,850	$50,465	40%
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.21	$57,000	$50,220	54%
12	MassachusettsState	1.20	$54,070	$49,834	50%
13	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.20	$47,790	$49,885	38%
14	GeorgiaState	1.19	$46,310	$49,582	37%
15	KentuckyState	1.15	$42,220	$47,706	27%
16	New JerseyState	1.15	$52,160	$47,941	41%
17	South CarolinaState	1.14	$43,820	$47,630	34%
18	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.14	$53,290	$47,243	45%
19	ConnecticutState	1.13	$50,720	$47,138	37%
20	ArkansasState	1.12	$40,310	$46,709	26%
21	IdahoState	1.12	$45,050	$46,684	32%
22	IndianaState	1.10	$41,350	$45,691	31%
23	North CarolinaState	1.09	$42,960	$45,508	36%
24	VirginiaState	1.09	$47,090	$45,498	40%
25	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.08	$46,630	$45,053	41%
26	MinnesotaState	1.07	$43,630	$44,520	35%
27	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.06	$40,240	$44,123	36%
28	KansasState	1.05	$39,470	$43,856	31%
29	IllinoisState	1.04	$41,960	$43,080	37%
30	MarylandState	1.04	$47,320	$43,333	43%
31	New YorkState	1.04	$48,510	$43,120	46%
32	PennsylvaniaState	1.03	$41,660	$42,948	37%
33	LouisianaState	1.02	$38,320	$42,531	33%
34	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.02	$42,110	$42,322	42%
35	MichiganState	1.00	$38,500	$41,712	35%
36	OklahomaState	1.00	$36,780	$41,559	32%
37	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	0.97	$48,470	$40,324	78%
38	WyomingState	0.96	$37,090	$39,882	32%
39	MississippiState	0.94	$33,330	$39,304	32%
40	TennesseeState	0.93	$35,540	$38,842	42%
41	UtahState	0.92	$38,430	$38,353	47%
42	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.91	$37,440	$38,010	55%
43	CaliforniaState	0.90	$41,600	$37,579	65%
44	FloridaState	0.89	$37,440	$36,887	55%
45	ArizonaState	0.88	$37,030	$36,700	49%
46	MontanaState	0.87	$34,790	$36,089	39%
47	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.86	$41,600	$35,708	65%
48	South DakotaState	0.84	$31,550	$34,747	36%
49	TexasState	0.82	$32,430	$33,923	51%
50	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.81	$32,930	$33,879	58%
51	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.81	$36,540	$33,677	67%
52	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.73	$27,860	$30,283	56%

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