Start with the answer
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Oregon and Pennsylvania
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $69,210 per year in Oregon. It is $50,280 per year in Pennsylvania. Oregon is 37.6% above Pennsylvania on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4022 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 30 wage and salary jobs in Oregon and 550 in Pennsylvania. 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
