These Are The 10 Best Cities For Lumberjacks

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Logging Equipment Operators, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer lumberjacks the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where lumberjacks get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for lumberjacks. The result is this list of the best cities for lumberjacks:

So there you have it — Longview is the best city when it comes to being a lumberjack.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a lumberjack? That would be Tampa.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for lumberjacks and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a lumberjack?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

Availability of jobs
Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for lumberjacks in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well lumberjacks get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
Average annual salary.
Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 56 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 56 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for lumberjacks in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for lumberjacks.

1. Longview, WA

Total Jobs: 250
Average Annual Salary: $52,130
Average Entry Level Salary: $42,440
Location Quotient: 35.26

2. Albany, OR

Total Jobs: 130
Average Annual Salary: $48,240
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,970
Location Quotient: 15.67

3. Olympia, WA

Total Jobs: 110
Average Annual Salary: $59,480
Average Entry Level Salary: $42,650
Location Quotient: 5.44

4. Corvallis, OR

Total Jobs: 100
Average Annual Salary: $45,530
Average Entry Level Salary: $35,230
Location Quotient: 14.12

5. Mount Vernon, WA

Total Jobs: 50
Average Annual Salary: $47,120
Average Entry Level Salary: $40,780
Location Quotient: 5.05

6. Bellingham, WA

Total Jobs: 80
Average Annual Salary: $46,500
Average Entry Level Salary: $38,200
Location Quotient: 5.17

7. Salem, OR

Total Jobs: 260
Average Annual Salary: $43,830
Average Entry Level Salary: $36,960
Location Quotient: 8.3

8. Eugene, OR

Total Jobs: 280
Average Annual Salary: $42,670
Average Entry Level Salary: $33,480
Location Quotient: 9.68

9. Macon, GA

Total Jobs: 100
Average Annual Salary: $43,900
Average Entry Level Salary: $31,720
Location Quotient: 4.94

10. Spokane, WA

Total Jobs: 220
Average Annual Salary: $44,470
Average Entry Level Salary: $34,400
Location Quotient: 5.02

And that’s our list of the best cities for lumberjacks

If you’re looking to start out your career as a lumberjacks these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a lumberjack in America:

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Lumberjacks

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	Longview, WA	$52,130	$42,440	250
2	Albany, OR	$48,240	$38,970	130
3	Olympia, WA	$59,480	$42,650	110
4	Corvallis, OR	$45,530	$35,230	100
5	Mount Vernon, WA	$47,120	$40,780	50
6	Bellingham, WA	$46,500	$38,200	80
7	Salem, OR	$43,830	$36,960	260
8	Eugene, OR	$42,670	$33,480	280
9	Macon, GA	$43,900	$31,720	100
10	Spokane, WA	$44,470	$34,400	220
11	Longview, TX	$42,540	$33,770	50
12	Coeur d’Alene, ID	$37,180	$26,110	100
13	Seattle, WA	$54,370	$39,670	110
14	Beaumont, TX	$46,200	$29,370	90
15	Little Rock, AR	$41,240	$31,720	70
16	Florence, AL	$36,530	$25,670	70
17	Missoula, MT	$36,780	$29,640	70
18	Tacoma, WA	$44,290	$32,920	120
19	Portland, OR	$44,270	$36,110	320
20	Monroe, LA	$39,430	$28,470	60
21	Redding, CA	$42,230	$32,300	140
22	Alexandria, LA	$38,200	$29,050	50
23	Panama City, FL	$43,340	$25,600	80
24	Spartanburg, SC	$37,470	$29,410	50
25	Charleston, SC	$36,820	$27,480	190
26	Duluth, MN	$40,550	$32,850	80
27	Pine Bluff, AR	$32,160	$21,780	60
28	Eau Claire, WI	$38,280	$32,540	50
29	Bangor, ME	$34,950	$27,290	120
30	Florence, SC	$36,730	$25,280	50
31	Valdosta, GA	$37,520	$18,990	50
32	Baton Rouge, LA	$37,670	$27,520	100
33	Dothan, AL	$32,810	$21,670	70
34	Jackson, TN	$34,600	$25,860	40
35	Hattiesburg, MS	$32,070	$18,240	100
36	Tuscaloosa, AL	$31,640	$18,000	160
37	Jacksonville, FL	$40,890	$28,800	140
38	Bend, OR	$37,030	$27,040	50
39	Raleigh, NC	$39,010	$27,820	70
40	Charlottesville, VA	$35,980	$23,060	170
41	Santa Rosa, CA	$44,720	$31,100	40
42	Jackson, MS	$33,690	$26,580	40
43	Charlotte, NC	$39,240	$25,960	120
44	Augusta, GA	$31,980	$21,510	150
45	Lynchburg, VA	$38,930	$18,910	90
46	Birmingham, AL	$31,740	$19,130	190
47	Montgomery, AL	$28,980	$17,630	110
48	Atlanta, GA	$34,210	$22,740	160
49	Greensboro, NC	$31,870	$21,590	40
50	Columbia, SC	$28,140	$16,740	120
51	Shreveport, LA	$29,050	$16,940	60
52	Portland, ME	$34,490	$17,940	40
53	Greenville, SC	$28,000	$16,480	80
54	Albany, NY	$31,100	$21,810	50
55	Pittsburgh, PA	$25,540	$20,710	40
56	Tampa, FL	$35,500	$17,970	40

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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