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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Molders, Shapers, And Casters, Except Metal And Plastic Salary: Arizona vs Hawaii

Molders, Shapers, And Casters, Except Metal And Plastic earn a median of $47,170 in Arizona and $74,780 in Hawaii. That is a nominal gap of $27,610 (-36.9%), with Hawaii 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.

$47,170
Arizona median
$46,853 after COL
$74,780
Hawaii median
$68,012 after COL
-36.9%
Nominal gap
Hawaii leads
-31.1%
Adjusted gap
Hawaii leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Hawaii pays $27,610 more per year than Arizona for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic, a gap of +36.9%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Hawaii still comes out ahead, with roughly $21,159 of extra purchasing power (+31.1% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Molders, Shapers, And Casters, Except Metal And Plastic

Arizona

Median salary
$47,170
Mean salary
$48,110
Employment
370
Location quotient
0.51
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$46,853
Regional Price Parity
100.7%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Molders, Shapers, And Casters, Except Metal And Plastic page for Arizona →

Molders, Shapers, And Casters, Except Metal And Plastic

Hawaii

Median salary
$74,780
Mean salary
$87,510
Employment
40
Location quotient
0.28
Jobs per 1,000
0.1
COL-adjusted median
$68,012
Regional Price Parity
110.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Molders, Shapers, And Casters, Except Metal And Plastic page for Hawaii →

Related pages

Keep digging into molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic 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.