Start with the answer
Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators pay in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators is $47,450 per year in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA. It is $60,320 per year in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA is 21.3% below Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-9151 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 280 wage and salary jobs in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and 50 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.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings