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Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines pay in Fairbanks-College, AK and Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines is $104,000 per year in Fairbanks-College, AK. It is $65,380 per year in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA. Fairbanks-College, AK is 59.1% above Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 49-3042 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 Fairbanks-College, AK and 190 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA. 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