Start with the answer
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing pay in New Jersey and Washington
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing is $49,680 per year in New Jersey. It is $52,980 per year in Washington. New Jersey is 6.2% below Washington 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 410 wage and salary jobs in New Jersey and 1,250 in Washington. 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
