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Cutters and Trimmers, Hand pay in Nebraska and New Jersey
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand is $48,830 per year in Nebraska. It is $34,600 per year in New Jersey. Nebraska is 41.1% above New Jersey on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-9031 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 60 wage and salary jobs in Nebraska and 380 in New Jersey. 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.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings
