Start with the answer
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders pay in Appleton, WI and Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders is $53,390 per year in Appleton, WI. It is $69,600 per year in Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT. Appleton, WI is 23.3% below Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-9124 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 440 wage and salary jobs in Appleton, WI and 70 in Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT. 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.