Start with the answer
Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders pay in Alabama and Maine
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders is $35,090 per year in Alabama. It is $64,610 per year in Maine. Alabama is 45.7% below Maine on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-9192 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 140 wage and salary jobs in Alabama and 40 in Maine. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.