Best Cities for Plant and System Operators, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where plant and system operators, 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	MassachusettsState	1.78	$120,660	$111,207	22%
2	MinnesotaState	1.44	$88,290	$90,092	17%
3	IowaState	1.36	$75,800	$84,978	15%
4	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.36	$84,390	$84,814	21%
5	MontanaState	1.35	$81,340	$84,378	17%
6	OklahomaState	1.34	$74,240	$83,887	16%
7	West VirginiaState	1.34	$70,660	$83,919	14%
8	KansasState	1.32	$74,190	$82,433	17%
9	WashingtonState	1.32	$88,730	$82,693	26%
10	IllinoisState	1.28	$77,780	$79,856	20%
11	NevadaState	1.28	$80,000	$79,840	22%
12	KentuckyState	1.26	$69,430	$78,452	17%
13	IndianaState	1.25	$70,490	$77,890	18%
14	MississippiState	1.23	$65,080	$76,745	17%
15	MarylandState	1.20	$81,890	$74,991	25%
16	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	1.19	$78,350	$74,055	26%
17	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.19	$85,300	$74,628	31%
18	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.19	$83,760	$74,255	29%
19	Columbus, OHMetro	1.18	$68,690	$73,465	23%
20	WyomingState	1.15	$66,770	$71,796	18%
21	OhioState	1.14	$64,140	$70,951	20%
22	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.14	$85,590	$71,206	44%
23	CaliforniaState	1.13	$78,020	$70,479	35%
24	MichiganState	1.12	$64,690	$70,087	21%
25	OregonState	1.12	$71,900	$69,806	27%
26	LouisianaState	1.11	$62,630	$69,512	20%
27	ArizonaState	1.10	$69,260	$68,642	26%
28	WisconsinState	1.09	$62,800	$68,039	21%
29	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.09	$73,540	$68,219	29%
30	UtahState	1.08	$67,910	$67,774	26%
31	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.08	$61,790	$67,752	24%
32	New YorkState	1.06	$74,700	$66,400	30%
33	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.06	$77,130	$66,206	35%
34	TennesseeState	1.05	$60,240	$65,836	25%
35	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.05	$67,760	$65,469	28%
36	North CarolinaState	1.04	$61,190	$64,820	26%
37	ConnecticutState	1.03	$68,950	$64,080	27%
38	New JerseyState	1.03	$69,970	$64,311	31%
39	IdahoState	1.02	$61,690	$63,927	23%
40	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	1.02	$61,200	$63,883	29%
41	South DakotaState	1.01	$57,430	$63,249	20%
42	MaineState	1.00	$62,270	$62,395	25%
43	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	1.00	$60,240	$62,620	31%
44	South CarolinaState	0.98	$56,060	$60,935	27%
45	New HampshireState	0.97	$64,030	$60,406	30%
46	New MexicoState	0.97	$55,710	$60,554	23%
47	VirginiaState	0.96	$61,940	$59,845	31%
48	AlabamaState	0.95	$51,690	$59,346	22%
49	MissouriState	0.93	$51,560	$58,194	24%
50	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.90	$64,030	$56,414	48%
51	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	0.89	$51,210	$55,663	31%
52	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.88	$50,840	$54,962	28%
53	ArkansasState	0.85	$46,020	$53,326	23%
54	TexasState	0.85	$50,820	$53,159	33%
55	NebraskaState	0.84	$48,220	$52,699	26%
56	PennsylvaniaState	0.84	$50,840	$52,412	31%
57	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.84	$50,720	$52,181	38%
58	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.84	$51,980	$52,772	40%
59	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.82	$55,830	$51,456	44%
60	FloridaState	0.80	$50,910	$50,158	41%
61	ColoradoState	0.78	$51,600	$48,956	43%
62	GeorgiaState	0.77	$44,670	$47,827	38%
63	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.73	$44,020	$45,475	44%

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