Start with the answer
Packers and Packagers, Hand pay in Greeley, CO and Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Packers and Packagers, Hand is $48,780 per year in Greeley, CO. It is $37,840 per year in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ. Greeley, CO is 28.9% above Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 53-7064 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 200 wage and salary jobs in Greeley, CO and 5,140 in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ. 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