Best Cities for Subway and Streetcar Operatorss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where subway and streetcar operatorss 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	MarylandState	0.98	$92,420	$84,634	22%
2	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.92	$84,350	$79,726	24%
3	FloridaState	0.83	$72,860	$71,783	28%
4	WashingtonState	0.83	$77,020	$71,780	30%
5	CaliforniaState	0.82	$78,680	$71,075	35%
6	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	0.81	$69,680	$70,030	25%
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	0.78	$77,020	$67,384	34%
8	MinnesotaState	0.77	$65,410	$66,745	23%
9	North CarolinaState	0.77	$62,590	$66,303	25%
10	GeorgiaState	0.74	$59,570	$63,779	29%
11	New JerseyState	0.73	$68,970	$63,392	31%
12	TexasState	0.71	$58,780	$61,485	28%
13	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	0.71	$59,570	$61,539	33%
14	MissouriState	0.69	$53,030	$59,853	23%
15	VirginiaState	0.69	$61,970	$59,874	30%
16	UtahState	0.68	$58,620	$58,503	31%
17	MichiganState	0.52	$41,710	$45,190	32%

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