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Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors pay in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors is $65,310 per year in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ. It is $87,430 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is 25.3% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 53-7081 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 13,310 wage and salary jobs in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ and 870 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. 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.