Start with the answer
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Kansas City, MO-KS and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $53,990 per year in Kansas City, MO-KS. It is $105,430 per year in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. Kansas City, MO-KS is 48.8% below Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4035 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 110 wage and salary jobs in Kansas City, MO-KS and 110 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, 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.
