Best Cities for Taperss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where taperss 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	IllinoisState	1.70	$113,180	$116,201	14%
2	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.34	$95,010	$91,797	20%
3	Kansas City, MO-KSMetro	1.28	$81,040	$87,328	19%
4	HawaiiState	1.27	$95,490	$86,809	30%
5	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAMetro	1.26	$92,490	$85,798	23%
6	PennsylvaniaState	1.24	$82,240	$84,784	19%
7	KansasState	1.21	$74,120	$82,356	17%
8	OhioState	1.20	$73,840	$81,681	17%
9	MinnesotaState	1.17	$78,090	$79,684	20%
10	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIMetro	1.15	$78,090	$78,482	23%
11	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAMetro	1.13	$92,810	$77,213	41%
12	IowaState	1.10	$66,980	$75,090	17%
13	WashingtonState	1.08	$79,040	$73,663	29%
14	MissouriState	1.04	$63,020	$71,129	20%
15	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAMetro	1.03	$80,340	$70,289	33%
16	OregonState	1.02	$71,450	$69,369	27%
17	MichiganState	1.01	$63,630	$68,938	21%
18	New YorkState	1.01	$77,790	$69,147	29%
19	CaliforniaState	0.97	$73,460	$66,360	37%
20	WisconsinState	0.92	$57,840	$62,665	23%
21	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	0.91	$70,810	$62,388	43%
22	NevadaState	0.89	$60,690	$60,569	29%
23	IdahoState	0.88	$57,690	$59,782	25%
24	MassachusettsState	0.88	$65,060	$59,963	42%
25	ConnecticutState	0.87	$63,600	$59,108	30%
26	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	0.86	$68,020	$58,386	40%
27	ArizonaState	0.82	$56,300	$55,798	32%
28	New MexicoState	0.77	$48,320	$52,522	26%
29	UtahState	0.77	$52,930	$52,824	34%
30	ColoradoState	0.76	$54,500	$51,708	41%
31	West VirginiaState	0.72	$41,600	$49,406	24%
32	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXMetro	0.72	$47,620	$48,992	40%
33	FloridaState	0.71	$49,400	$48,670	42%
34	North CarolinaState	0.71	$45,770	$48,485	34%
35	IndianaState	0.69	$42,810	$47,304	30%
36	TexasState	0.67	$43,670	$45,680	38%

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