Best Cities for Precision Instrument and Equipment Repairers, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where precision instrument and equipment repairers, 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	AlaskaState	1.58	$113,670	$108,984	14%
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.53	$120,900	$105,774	22%
3	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.34	$85,520	$92,155	18%
4	MissouriState	1.33	$81,330	$91,795	15%
5	WashingtonState	1.33	$98,340	$91,650	23%
6	LouisianaState	1.32	$82,140	$91,165	15%
7	TennesseeState	1.30	$82,090	$89,716	18%
8	OhioState	1.29	$80,200	$88,717	16%
9	KansasState	1.25	$77,330	$85,922	16%
10	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.24	$102,720	$85,458	37%
11	New MexicoState	1.23	$78,060	$84,848	16%
12	MississippiState	1.20	$70,260	$82,854	15%
13	DelawareState	1.18	$82,200	$81,386	20%
14	HawaiiState	1.17	$88,580	$80,527	32%
15	VirginiaState	1.15	$81,850	$79,082	23%
16	ArizonaState	1.11	$77,210	$76,521	23%
17	KentuckyState	1.09	$66,410	$75,040	17%
18	New JerseyState	1.08	$80,930	$74,384	27%
19	AlabamaState	1.07	$64,400	$73,938	18%
20	Columbus, OHMetro	1.07	$68,870	$73,658	23%
21	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.06	$82,200	$72,872	29%
22	CaliforniaState	1.05	$80,060	$72,322	34%
23	MichiganState	1.04	$66,360	$71,896	20%
24	ConnecticutState	1.03	$76,230	$70,846	25%
25	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.03	$64,990	$71,261	22%
26	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.03	$73,640	$71,150	26%
27	ArkansasState	1.02	$60,990	$70,672	17%
28	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXMetro	1.01	$64,360	$69,957	24%
29	OklahomaState	1.00	$60,850	$68,757	19%
30	GeorgiaState	0.98	$63,110	$67,570	27%
31	IndianaState	0.98	$61,350	$67,790	21%
32	ColoradoState	0.97	$70,510	$66,898	31%
33	TexasState	0.97	$64,150	$67,103	26%
34	OregonState	0.96	$68,350	$66,359	28%
35	WyomingState	0.96	$61,660	$66,301	19%
36	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.96	$71,600	$66,419	30%
37	North CarolinaState	0.94	$61,070	$64,693	26%
38	NebraskaState	0.93	$58,710	$64,164	21%
39	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.92	$61,070	$63,747	29%
40	South CarolinaState	0.91	$57,480	$62,478	26%
41	MarylandState	0.87	$65,240	$59,744	31%
42	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLMetro	0.87	$58,980	$59,878	35%
43	FloridaState	0.85	$59,310	$58,433	35%
44	MinnesotaState	0.85	$57,290	$58,459	27%
45	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.85	$62,390	$58,970	32%
46	New YorkState	0.84	$65,170	$57,929	34%
47	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	0.84	$57,830	$58,121	31%
48	MassachusettsState	0.83	$62,260	$57,382	43%
49	UtahState	0.80	$55,160	$55,050	32%
50	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	0.78	$58,240	$53,677	42%
51	MaineState	0.77	$53,280	$53,387	29%
52	IllinoisState	0.76	$51,350	$52,721	31%
53	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.76	$59,760	$52,652	51%
54	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.76	$61,380	$52,687	44%
55	IowaState	0.75	$45,960	$51,525	25%
56	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.73	$48,240	$50,146	39%
57	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.69	$46,030	$47,552	42%
58	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.53	$33,870	$36,616	42%
59	PennsylvaniaState	0.51	$33,870	$34,918	46%

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