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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic Salary: Maine vs Washington

Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic earn a median of $44,080 in Maine and $57,080 in Washington. That is a nominal gap of $13,000 (-22.8%), 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.

$44,080
Maine median
$45,420 after COL
$57,080
Washington median
$53,339 after COL
-22.8%
Nominal gap
Washington leads
-14.8%
Adjusted gap
Washington leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Washington pays $13,000 more per year than Maine for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, a gap of +22.8%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Washington still comes out ahead, with roughly $7,919 of extra purchasing power (+14.8% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic

Maine

Median salary
$44,080
Mean salary
$45,810
Employment
430
Location quotient
0.80
Jobs per 1,000
0.7
COL-adjusted median
$45,420
Regional Price Parity
97.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic page for Maine →

Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic

Washington

Median salary
$57,080
Mean salary
$59,460
Employment
850
Location quotient
0.29
Jobs per 1,000
0.2
COL-adjusted median
$53,339
Regional Price Parity
107.0%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, And Tenders, Metal And Plastic page for Washington →

Related pages

Keep digging into multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, 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.