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Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers pay in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY and Wheeling, WV-OH
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers is $39,580 per year in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY. It is $64,620 per year in Wheeling, WV-OH. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY is 38.7% below Wheeling, WV-OH on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 49-9098 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 260 wage and salary jobs in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY and 40 in Wheeling, WV-OH. 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