Best Cities for Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaderss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where tank car, truck, and ship loaderss 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	South CarolinaState	1.49	$80,700	$87,717	19%
2	AlabamaState	1.47	$75,450	$86,625	15%
3	MontanaState	1.41	$80,070	$83,060	17%
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	1.34	$76,850	$79,064	25%
5	MinnesotaState	1.33	$76,620	$78,184	20%
6	MarylandState	1.26	$81,320	$74,469	25%
7	OregonState	1.22	$74,040	$71,883	26%
8	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.16	$77,490	$68,273	40%
9	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	1.13	$60,440	$66,272	24%
10	MassachusettsState	1.12	$71,750	$66,129	38%
11	New HampshireState	1.12	$70,030	$66,066	27%
12	North DakotaState	1.12	$61,210	$66,102	19%
13	LouisianaState	1.11	$58,900	$65,372	21%
14	MissouriState	1.11	$57,750	$65,181	22%
15	West VirginiaState	1.10	$54,750	$65,024	18%
16	TexasState	1.09	$61,170	$63,985	27%
17	OhioState	1.08	$57,700	$63,827	22%
18	MichiganState	1.07	$57,900	$62,730	23%
19	CaliforniaState	1.05	$68,600	$61,969	40%
20	WisconsinState	1.05	$57,250	$62,026	23%
21	Columbus, OHMetro	1.04	$57,030	$60,995	27%
22	KentuckyState	1.02	$53,160	$60,068	22%
23	New JerseyState	1.01	$64,890	$59,642	33%
24	IowaState	0.98	$51,450	$57,679	22%
25	GeorgiaState	0.93	$51,160	$54,775	33%
26	UtahState	0.90	$53,370	$53,263	34%
27	New MexicoState	0.89	$48,010	$52,185	26%
28	NebraskaState	0.86	$46,300	$50,601	27%
29	PennsylvaniaState	0.84	$48,120	$49,608	32%
30	ColoradoState	0.83	$51,200	$48,577	43%
31	IndianaState	0.83	$44,310	$48,961	29%
32	North CarolinaState	0.81	$44,910	$47,574	35%
33	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCMetro	0.78	$44,010	$45,939	41%
34	FloridaState	0.76	$45,540	$44,867	45%
35	IdahoState	0.73	$41,700	$43,212	34%
36	New YorkState	0.73	$48,220	$42,862	46%
37	HawaiiState	0.70	$45,240	$41,127	63%
38	OklahomaState	0.68	$35,360	$39,955	33%
39	VirginiaState	0.68	$41,190	$39,797	46%
40	ArkansasState	0.67	$33,800	$39,166	31%

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