Best Cities for Rail Transportation Workers, All Others

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where rail transportation 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	GeorgiaState	1.49	$78,500	$84,047	22%
2	WashingtonState	1.43	$86,650	$80,755	26%
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.23	$79,120	$69,221	33%
4	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.04	$68,250	$58,584	40%
5	CaliforniaState	0.97	$60,360	$54,526	45%
6	TennesseeState	0.94	$48,660	$53,180	31%
7	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TNMetro	0.90	$48,660	$50,582	38%
8	TexasState	0.80	$43,150	$45,136	39%

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