Start with the answer
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Delaware and Oregon
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $41,640 per year in Delaware. It is $53,680 per year in Oregon. Delaware is 22.4% below Oregon on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4031 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 240 wage and salary jobs in Delaware and 1,180 in Oregon. 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
