Best Cities for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firerss 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	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.68	$132,190	$115,652	20%
2	IowaState	1.32	$80,910	$90,706	14%
3	GeorgiaState	1.17	$75,540	$80,878	22%
4	WashingtonState	1.15	$85,140	$79,348	27%
5	IllinoisState	1.14	$76,290	$78,326	21%
6	New MexicoState	1.14	$72,340	$78,630	17%
7	MissouriState	1.10	$67,110	$75,745	19%
8	OhioState	1.09	$67,770	$74,967	19%
9	TexasState	1.09	$71,580	$74,874	23%
10	KansasState	1.08	$66,990	$74,433	19%
11	New YorkState	1.08	$83,530	$74,249	27%
12	ColoradoState	1.05	$76,140	$72,239	29%
13	MarylandState	1.05	$79,180	$72,509	25%
14	MichiganState	1.05	$66,970	$72,557	20%
15	IndianaState	1.04	$64,530	$71,304	20%
16	New JerseyState	0.99	$74,160	$68,162	29%
17	AlabamaState	0.93	$56,050	$64,351	21%
18	KentuckyState	0.93	$56,410	$63,740	20%
19	LouisianaState	0.87	$54,260	$60,222	23%
20	North CarolinaState	0.84	$54,810	$58,061	28%
21	FloridaState	0.83	$58,250	$57,389	35%
22	PennsylvaniaState	0.83	$55,470	$57,186	28%
23	West VirginiaState	0.81	$46,900	$55,701	21%
24	CaliforniaState	0.77	$58,770	$53,089	46%
25	WyomingState	0.71	$45,490	$48,914	26%

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