Best Cities for Ship Engineerss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where ship engineerss 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	KentuckyState	1.24	$120,550	$136,215	10%
2	IndianaState	1.23	$122,190	$135,017	10%
3	TexasState	1.22	$127,810	$133,692	13%
4	FloridaState	1.17	$130,480	$128,552	16%
5	HawaiiState	1.09	$131,640	$119,673	22%
6	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FLMetro	1.09	$129,700	$119,539	19%
7	IllinoisState	1.08	$115,310	$118,388	14%
8	New YorkState	1.08	$133,640	$118,791	17%
9	Rhode IslandState	1.08	$119,330	$118,736	15%
10	MississippiState	1.06	$98,380	$116,014	11%
11	LouisianaState	1.05	$103,430	$114,795	12%
12	MassachusettsState	1.03	$122,720	$113,106	22%
13	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.02	$126,630	$111,568	24%
14	AlabamaState	1.01	$96,030	$110,253	12%
15	ConnecticutState	1.01	$119,010	$110,604	16%
16	New JerseyState	0.99	$118,310	$108,741	18%
17	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	0.99	$122,090	$108,236	20%
18	South CarolinaState	0.97	$97,890	$106,402	15%
19	WashingtonState	0.92	$107,940	$100,596	21%
20	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.87	$108,900	$95,276	24%
21	CaliforniaState	0.81	$97,660	$88,220	28%
22	OregonState	0.79	$88,800	$86,214	22%
23	MichiganState	0.78	$79,170	$85,775	17%
24	AlaskaState	0.77	$88,190	$84,554	19%
25	PennsylvaniaState	0.75	$80,210	$82,691	19%
26	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	0.75	$88,800	$82,375	24%
27	VirginiaState	0.73	$82,370	$79,585	23%
28	Pittsburgh, PAMetro	0.73	$73,550	$79,514	19%
29	MaineState	0.71	$77,160	$77,315	20%
30	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.66	$84,630	$72,644	32%
31	North CarolinaState	0.63	$65,010	$68,867	24%

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