Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX vs Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA pay

Percentile	Published wages	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
10th	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$39,960Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA$49,000	$39,960	$49,000
25th	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$42,970Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA$49,480	$42,970

Place	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Employment RSE
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	130Jobs per 1,000: 0.04 Location quotient: 0.36	0.04	0.36	13.9%
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	240Jobs per 1,000: 0.95 Location quotient: 8.78	0.95	8.78	1.7%

Median	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$49,440Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA$85,370	$49,440	$85,370

75th	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$63,940Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA$85,370	$63,940	$85,370

90th	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$78,140Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA$92,050	$78,140	$92,050

Start with the answer

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders pay in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA

The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders is $49,440 per year in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX. It is $85,370 per year in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 42.1% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA on the published median.

Both rows use SOC 51-4051 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 130 wage and salary jobs in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and 240 in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. 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.

Pay range

Compare the full Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders wage ladder

A median can hide a wide range. The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile points show more of each area's spread. A percentile is a rank point. It is not a career stage. The 10th point does not mean new-worker pay. The 90th point does not mean a wage that comes after a set number of years.

The lower half can differ from the upper half. One area can lead at the median and trail at another point. Read each field against the same field in the other area. Do not compare one area's 75th percentile with the other area's median. That would answer a different question.

A posted job range can sit below, across, or above these marks. That does not make the post wrong. A listing can differ by employer, level, hours, field, or work rules. Keep the listing tied to that employer. Keep the BLS range tied to the whole role-place row.

10th percentile: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is $39,960 per year; Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA is $49,000 per year. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 18.4% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA at this point.
25th percentile: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is $42,970 per year; Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA is $49,480 per year. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 13.2% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA at this point.
Median: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is $49,440 per year; Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA is $85,370 per year. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 42.1% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA at this point.
75th percentile: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is $63,940 per year; Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA is $85,370 per year. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 25.1% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA at this point.
90th percentile: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is $78,140 per year; Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA is $92,050 per year. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 15.1% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA at this point.

Shape of pay

Mean and median tell two parts of the Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders story

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX has a mean of $55,400 per year and a median of $49,440. Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA has a mean of $71,680 per year and a median of $85,370. Mean adds all wage values and splits the total by the number of jobs behind the estimate.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX's mean is 12.1% above its median on the same published median. Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA's mean is 16.0% below its median on the same published median. The gaps show that each wage spread has a shape. They do not explain why the shape differs.

Use median for the middle. Use mean to see how the full set pulls. Use percentiles to see more of the spread. None of the three is a pay promise. A person, team, or listing can sit far from all three for reasons that are outside these BLS rows.

Job scale

How the two Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders job bases differ

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX has 130 estimated Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders jobs. Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA has 240. The larger count shows a larger covered job base in this source. It does not show more open roles, faster hiring, or a better chance for one applicant.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX has 0.04 Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders jobs per 1,000 local jobs. Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA has 0.95 per 1,000. This rate helps compare places of different size. It is not a job-post rate and does not use the MeritLog catalog.

The employment RSE is 13.9% in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and 1.7% in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. RSE means relative standard error. It is a survey precision flag. It is not the chance that the job count or one person's pay is right.

Local share

Where Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders takes a larger share of jobs

The location quotient is 0.36 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and 8.78 in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. A value of 1 means the role has the same share of local jobs as it has across the nation. A value above 1 means the local share is larger. A value below 1 means it is smaller.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX's quotient is 95.9% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA's. That gap is about the job mix. It is not a wage gap, a job-count gap, or a growth claim.

Read location quotient with employment. A small place can have a high share and few jobs. A large place can have many jobs and a share near the national mark. Then read pay as its own field. The three measures do not form one score.

BEA price view

How price levels differ between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA

BEA's 2024 all-items price index is 98.6 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and 100.3 in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. The U.S. level is 100. A higher number means the broad local price level is higher than the national mark. It does not say a place is good or bad.

Housing is 104.5 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and 97.1 in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. Goods are 100.6 and 105.0. Utilities are 95.3 and 91.2. Other services are 95.6 and 99.5. The parts can move in different ways.

The wage period is May 2025. The price period is 2024. WageScope keeps those clocks visible. It uses the all-items index for one clear proxy. It does not mix BEA prices into the BLS source row, and it does not claim the two releases describe the exact same month.

Price-level proxy

Compare the medians in national-price dollars

In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, we start with the $49,440 median. We divide it by 98.6 divided by 100. The result is $50,127 per year. In Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA, we start with $85,370. We divide it by 100.3 divided by 100. That result is $85,076 per year.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX's proxy is 41.1% below Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA's. The nominal gap is 42.1%. The order can stay the same or change after the price-level step. Both results must keep their labels.

The proxy is a narrow math tool. It is not take-home pay. It does not add taxes, benefits, household size, debt, commute, schools, safety, climate, or taste. It does not set a wage target. Use it to see how one broad price index changes the wage view, then check your own costs outside WageScope.

Same-proxy pay

What equal price-level pay would look like in the other place

$49,440 per year in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX has the same value after this price check as $50,301 per year in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. We keep the result for Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX fixed. Then we apply the overall price index for Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA.

$85,370 per year in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA has the same proxy as $83,909 per year in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX. This reverse view is useful because the answer depends on which wage you start with. It is not a claim about an offer in either place.

Equivalent nominal pay uses one broad price measure. It does not know what a person buys. It does not know rent, family size, debt, taxes, travel, benefits, or savings. Treat the result as a clean source-backed comparison, not a full move plan or a number an employer must match.

Data care

Check the survey marks before you use the gap

The mean-wage RSE is 3.5% in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and 0.4% in Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA. The employment RSE is 13.9% and 1.7%. RSE is a precision flag for the field it sits beside. It is not a score for the whole page.

BLS does not publish the same RSE field for the median and each percentile. WageScope does not move a mean RSE to the median. It does not use an employment RSE as a wage care mark. Each value stays tied to its source field. Missing or top-coded values also keep their source state.

New BLS or BEA data can change the result. We check the source dates before release. If a full new release is waiting for review, we cannot call these data current. Each job card has its own check date. New job posts do not make the government data newer.

Use the result

A short check list for Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA

Start with the same Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders wage field. Then read the full percentile spread. Check job count, jobs per 1,000, and location quotient. Add the 2024 all-items and housing price levels. Read the national-price-dollar proxy with its limits. Keep the BLS and BEA dates in view.

Next, inspect one current employer-title match in each place when an exact public place match exists. A job post can show work level, hours, location rules, and pay that the BLS row cannot. The post is dated employer evidence. It does not change the survey median or prove a broad trend.

Last, use your own facts. Compare the job needs with work you have done and can support. A wage gap cannot show fit. A price-level gap cannot show fit. A job count cannot show fit. MeritLog's résumé path starts only after you choose a listing and confirm the work facts you want to use.

Limits

What this Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders comparison does not decide

The page does not choose Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX or Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA for you. It does not say what one worker earns. It does not promise a job, offer, raise, or move result. It does not say why the medians differ. It does not turn the larger wage, job count, quotient, or proxy into a place score.

This comparison leaves out people who work for themselves and jobs outside the BLS survey. It does not add taxes, take-home pay, benefits, stock, bonuses, or hours. It leaves out travel, remote work, and your home budget too. Job posts stay separate. There may be none even when all source data is ready.

Use this page for a bounded choice. Compare the same May 2025 BLS role and metric across two exact areas. Add the separate 2024 BEA price view. Inspect dated employer-title matches. Then build a résumé from facts you have confirmed. Keep each source tied to the question it can answer.

Your privacy, your choice

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX vs Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA

Same occupation, same annual wage metric

The winner can change when local prices differ

Housing and all-items indexes explain the adjustment

Matching pay after local prices

Job counts and local share

Compare another job type or two places

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA guide

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA: common questions

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