Start with the answer
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders pay in Maine and Oklahoma
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders is $57,990 per year in Maine. It is $42,180 per year in Oklahoma. Maine is 37.5% above Oklahoma on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-9041 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 Maine and 1,310 in Oklahoma. 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