Skip to content

An independent salary reference. Not affiliated with BLS or any U.S. government agency.

Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Paving, Surfacing, And Tamping Equipment Operators Salary: Florida vs Missouri

Paving, Surfacing, And Tamping Equipment Operators earn a median of $44,810 in Florida and $70,520 in Missouri. That is a nominal gap of $25,710 (-36.5%), with Missouri 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.

$44,810
Florida median
$43,331 after COL
$70,520
Missouri median
$77,651 after COL
-36.5%
Nominal gap
Missouri leads
-44.2%
Adjusted gap
Missouri leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, Missouri pays $25,710 more per year than Florida for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators, a gap of +36.5%.

After adjusting for cost of living, Missouri still comes out ahead, with roughly $34,320 of extra purchasing power (+44.2% real gap). Local prices do not reverse the nominal advantage.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Paving, Surfacing, And Tamping Equipment Operators

Florida

Median salary
$44,810
Mean salary
$45,490
Employment
3,000
Location quotient
1.03
Jobs per 1,000
0.3
COL-adjusted median
$43,331
Regional Price Parity
103.4%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Paving, Surfacing, And Tamping Equipment Operators page for Florida →

Paving, Surfacing, And Tamping Equipment Operators

Missouri

Median salary
$70,520
Mean salary
$67,740
Employment
1,550
Location quotient
1.79
Jobs per 1,000
0.5
COL-adjusted median
$77,651
Regional Price Parity
90.8%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Paving, Surfacing, And Tamping Equipment Operators page for Missouri →

Related pages

Keep digging into paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators 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.