Start with the answer
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders pay in Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT and Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders is $48,890 per year in Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT. It is $69,600 per year in Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT is 29.8% 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 610 wage and salary jobs in Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 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.