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Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Iowa and Oklahoma
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $70,910 per year in Iowa. It is $49,330 per year in Oklahoma. Iowa is 43.7% above Oklahoma on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4193 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 440 wage and salary jobs in Iowa and 180 in Oklahoma. 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