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Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing pay in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing is $60,070 per year in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA. It is $45,430 per year in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 32.2% above Durham-Chapel Hill, NC on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-7042 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 70 wage and salary jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and 220 in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC. 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