Start with the answer
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Ohio and Oregon
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $45,270 per year in Ohio. It is $57,290 per year in Oregon. Ohio is 21.0% below Oregon on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4033 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 5,960 wage and salary jobs in Ohio 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
