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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, And Kettle Operators And Tenders Salary: Madison, WI vs Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, And Kettle Operators And Tenders earn a median of $60,700 in Madison, WI and $61,770 in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD. That is a nominal gap of $1,070 (-1.7%), with Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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.

$60,700
Madison, WI median
$62,393 after COL
$61,770
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD median
$60,232 after COL
-1.7%
Nominal gap
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD leads
+3.6%
Adjusted gap
Madison, WI leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD pays $1,070 more per year than Madison, WI for furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders, a gap of +1.7%.

After adjusting for cost of living, the picture flips. Madison, WI actually offers more purchasing power, effectively paying $2,161 more in national-price-level terms (a +3.6% real gap). The higher nominal wage in the other location is eaten up by higher local prices.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, And Kettle Operators And Tenders

Madison, WI

Median salary
$60,700
Mean salary
$57,250
Employment
50
Location quotient
1.27
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$62,393
Regional Price Parity
97.3%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, And Kettle Operators And Tenders page for Madison, WI →

Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, And Kettle Operators And Tenders

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

Median salary
$61,770
Mean salary
$58,330
Employment
120
Location quotient
0.40
Jobs per 1,000
0.0
COL-adjusted median
$60,232
Regional Price Parity
102.6%

Exact metro RPP match.

Full Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, And Kettle Operators And Tenders page for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD →

Related pages

Keep digging into furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders 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 metro specializes in.