Best Cities for Telephone Operatorss

Cities ranked by purchasing power — where telephone 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	CaliforniaState	1.24	$57,170	$51,644	48%
2	WisconsinState	1.21	$46,590	$50,477	28%
3	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CAMetro	1.21	$58,900	$50,558	46%
4	New YorkState	1.07	$50,220	$44,640	44%
5	MassachusettsState	1.06	$47,940	$44,184	56%
6	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDMetro	1.04	$45,000	$43,478	43%
7	District of ColumbiaState	1.03	$49,330	$43,158	51%
8	TexasState	1.03	$41,250	$43,149	40%
9	North CarolinaState	1.02	$40,360	$42,754	39%
10	OklahomaState	1.01	$37,320	$42,169	31%
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NHMetro	1.01	$47,940	$42,238	64%
12	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVMetro	1.01	$47,410	$42,030	51%
13	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GAMetro	1.00	$40,400	$41,736	48%
14	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIMetro	0.99	$37,550	$41,173	39%
15	OhioState	0.98	$36,970	$40,896	34%
16	VirginiaState	0.98	$42,350	$40,918	45%
17	MichiganState	0.97	$37,550	$40,683	36%
18	Columbus, OHMetro	0.97	$37,890	$40,524	41%
19	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MDMetro	0.96	$42,460	$40,132	47%
20	GeorgiaState	0.95	$36,920	$39,529	46%
21	MarylandState	0.93	$42,460	$38,883	47%
22	New JerseyState	0.92	$41,960	$38,566	51%
23	FloridaState	0.88	$37,180	$36,631	56%
24	LouisianaState	0.83	$31,400	$34,850	40%

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