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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Metal Workers And Plastic Workers, All Other Salary: Washington vs Oklahoma

Metal Workers And Plastic Workers, All Other earn a median of $63,470 in Washington and $61,440 in Oklahoma. That is a nominal gap of $2,030 (+3.3%), 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.

$63,470
Washington median
$59,311 after COL
$61,440
Oklahoma median
$69,943 after COL
+3.3%
Nominal gap
Washington leads
-15.2%
Adjusted gap
Oklahoma leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Washington pays $2,030 more per year than Oklahoma for metal workers and plastic workers, all other, a gap of +3.3%.

After adjusting for cost of living, the picture flips. Oklahoma actually offers more purchasing power, effectively paying $10,632 more in national-price-level terms (a +15.2% 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 metal workers and plastic workers, all other in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Metal Workers And Plastic Workers, All Other

Washington

Median salary
$63,470
Mean salary
$71,510
Employment
420
Location quotient
0.90
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$59,311
Regional Price Parity
107.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Metal Workers And Plastic Workers, All Other page for Washington →

Metal Workers And Plastic Workers, All Other

Oklahoma

Median salary
$61,440
Mean salary
$54,430
Employment
N/A
Location quotient
N/A
Jobs per 1,000
N/A
COL-adjusted median
$69,943
Regional Price Parity
87.8%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Metal Workers And Plastic Workers, All Other page for Oklahoma →

Related pages

Keep digging into metal workers and plastic workers, all other 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.