Start with the answer
Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining pay in West Virginia and Wyoming
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining is $74,950 per year in West Virginia. It is $112,110 per year in Wyoming. West Virginia is 33.1% below Wyoming on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 47-5044 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 1,250 wage and salary jobs in West Virginia and 30 in Wyoming. 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