Start with the answer
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders pay in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL and Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders is $40,600 per year in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL. It is $79,800 per year in Fort Collins-Loveland, CO. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL is 49.1% below Fort Collins-Loveland, CO on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-9111 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 550 wage and salary jobs in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL and 670 in Fort Collins-Loveland, CO. 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.