Home / Sailors and Marine Oilers / Best Cities Best Cities for Sailors and Marine Oilerss Cities ranked by purchasing power — where sailors and marine oilerss 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 Hawaii State 1.34 $76,140 $69,218 38% 2 Oregon State 1.33 $70,410 $68,359 27% 3 Tennessee State 1.29 $60,580 $66,208 25% 4 New Jersey State 1.28 $71,880 $66,066 30% 5 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro 1.26 $62,610 $65,083 30% 6 Indiana State 1.21 $56,570 $62,508 22% 7 Washington State 1.21 $66,700 $62,162 34% 8 Alaska State 1.17 $63,130 $60,527 26% 9 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro 1.17 $68,740 $60,140 38% 10 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro 1.16 $61,630 $59,546 31% 11 Delaware State 1.15 $60,040 $59,446 27% 12 Mississippi State 1.15 $50,390 $59,422 21% 13 Ohio State 1.15 $53,520 $59,204 23% 14 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro 1.15 $63,900 $59,276 34% 15 Missouri State 1.14 $51,940 $58,623 24% 16 Texas State 1.13 $55,610 $58,169 30% 17 Minnesota State 1.12 $56,680 $57,837 27% 18 Florida State 1.11 $57,930 $57,074 36% 19 West Virginia State 1.09 $47,370 $56,259 21% 20 Michigan State 1.08 $51,310 $55,590 26% 21 South Carolina State 1.07 $50,500 $54,891 30% 22 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro 1.07 $50,050 $54,879 29% 23 Iowa State 1.05 $48,100 $53,924 24% 24 Kentucky State 1.04 $47,460 $53,627 24% 25 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro 1.04 $57,870 $53,336 42% 26 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro 1.04 $52,950 $53,756 39% 27 Wisconsin State 1.03 $48,880 $52,958 27% 28 Louisiana State 1.00 $46,610 $51,731 27% 29 Illinois State 0.98 $49,090 $50,400 32% 30 California State 0.97 $55,180 $49,846 49% 31 Alabama State 0.96 $43,000 $49,369 27% 32 New York State 0.94 $54,210 $48,187 41% 33 Rhode Island State 0.94 $48,860 $48,617 37% 34 North Carolina State 0.92 $44,770 $47,426 35% 35 Virginia State 0.92 $49,120 $47,459 38% 36 Maine State 0.91 $46,800 $46,894 33% 37 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro 0.90 $52,110 $46,197 46% 38 Connecticut State 0.82 $45,280 $42,082 42% 39 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro 0.81 $48,530 $41,657 56% 40 Pittsburgh, PA Metro 0.80 $37,920 $40,995 37% 41 Massachusetts State 0.79 $44,070 $40,618 61% 42 Georgia State 0.78 $37,500 $40,150 45% 43 Pennsylvania State 0.78 $38,810 $40,010 40% 44 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro 0.75 $44,070 $38,828 70% 45 Arkansas State 0.54 $23,960 $27,764 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).