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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers Salary: Pennsylvania vs Washington

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers earn a median of $61,990 in Pennsylvania and $81,970 in Washington. That is a nominal gap of $19,980 (-24.4%), with Washington paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$61,990
Pennsylvania median
$63,533 after COL
$81,970
Washington median
$76,598 after COL
-24.4%
Nominal gap
Washington leads
-17.1%
Adjusted gap
Washington leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Washington pays $19,980 more per year than Pennsylvania for computer numerically controlled tool programmers, a gap of +24.4%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Washington still comes out ahead, with roughly $13,066 of extra purchasing power (+17.1% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for computer numerically controlled tool programmers in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers

Pennsylvania

Median salary
$61,990
Mean salary
$65,040
Employment
920
Location quotient
0.83
Jobs per 1,000
0.2
COL-adjusted median
$63,533
Regional Price Parity
97.6%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers page for Pennsylvania →

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers

Washington

Median salary
$81,970
Mean salary
$84,440
Employment
640
Location quotient
0.99
Jobs per 1,000
0.2
COL-adjusted median
$76,598
Regional Price Parity
107.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers page for Washington →

Related pages

Keep digging into computer numerically controlled tool programmers from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a state specializes in.