Start with the answer
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Iowa and New Hampshire
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $72,670 per year in Iowa. It is $60,570 per year in New Hampshire. Iowa is 20.0% above New Hampshire on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4023 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 660 wage and salary jobs in Iowa and 40 in New Hampshire. 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
