Best Cities for Pourers and Casters, Metals

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where pourers and casters, metals 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	TennesseeState	1.52	$71,880	$78,557	21%
2	Columbus, OHMetro	1.36	$66,040	$70,631	24%
3	IndianaState	1.31	$61,430	$67,878	21%
4	OhioState	1.30	$60,770	$67,223	21%
5	MichiganState	1.26	$60,280	$65,309	22%
6	FloridaState	1.18	$62,090	$61,172	33%
7	North CarolinaState	1.18	$57,700	$61,123	27%
8	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.16	$58,240	$59,918	33%
9	IllinoisState	1.13	$57,200	$58,727	28%
10	MassachusettsState	1.12	$62,820	$57,899	43%
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.12	$66,120	$58,256	46%
12	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.09	$51,700	$56,689	28%
13	KansasState	1.08	$50,530	$56,144	25%
14	IowaState	1.06	$49,010	$54,944	23%
15	MissouriState	1.06	$48,850	$55,135	25%
16	AlabamaState	1.05	$47,330	$54,340	24%
17	TexasState	1.05	$52,100	$54,498	32%
18	ArkansasState	1.02	$45,410	$52,619	23%
19	WisconsinState	1.00	$47,880	$51,874	27%
20	MississippiState	0.99	$43,370	$51,144	25%
21	WashingtonState	0.98	$54,210	$50,522	42%
22	OregonState	0.97	$52,010	$50,495	37%
23	PennsylvaniaState	0.94	$47,220	$48,680	33%
24	UtahState	0.87	$45,140	$45,050	40%
25	KentuckyState	0.85	$38,800	$43,842	30%
26	CaliforniaState	0.77	$44,150	$39,883	62%
27	VirginiaState	0.74	$39,420	$38,087	48%
28	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.73	$44,020	$37,785	62%

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