A machine operator in Fort Collins-Loveland has a median wage of $79,800. In Aguadilla the median is $21,840. That is a 3.65-fold difference for the same job title, which is unusually wide even by the standards of a country this large — and it means a national average for this role is close to meaningless.
From $33,390 at the 10th percentile to $60,030 at the 90th is only 1.8×, which is narrow. Pay for machine operators is set more by structure than by individual outcome — scales, steps, licensure. That makes income predictable and makes the ceiling real: the way to earn materially more is usually to change role or location, not to out-perform within this one.
The top of the table is spread across several states rather than concentrated in one, which points away from a pure cost-of-living story. Where a role pays 3.65× more in one market than another without a single expensive state dominating, the usual cause is local demand density — a few metros where the industry clusters and employers compete for the same small pool. The machine operator concentration table further down shows where that is happening.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Collins-Loveland CO | $79,800 | $38.37 | 1.62 | 670 |
| Salisbury MD | $69,060 | $33.20 | 0.47 | 60 |
| Cedar Rapids IA | $67,700 | $32.55 | 3.19 | 1,080 |
| Connecticut nonmetropolitan area | $64,930 | $31.22 | 1.01 | 170 |
| Tuscaloosa AL | $61,680 | $29.66 | 0.62 | 160 |
| Owensboro KY | $61,250 | $29.45 | 8.13 | 980 |
| Eau Claire WI | $60,340 | $29.01 | 1.58 | 330 |
| Decatur IL | $59,160 | $28.44 | 1.48 | 160 |
| South Central Tennessee nonmetropolitan area | $57,480 | $27.64 | 2.36 | 630 |
| Traverse City MI | $54,020 | $25.97 | 1.21 | 200 |
| Manchester-Nashua NH | $53,540 | $25.74 | 0.5 | 240 |
| Eastern Oregon nonmetropolitan area | $52,630 | $25.31 | 2.71 | 490 |
| Eastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area | $52,550 | $25.26 | 0.41 | 90 |
| Lewiston-Auburn ME | $51,980 | $24.99 | 2.78 | 320 |
| Twin Falls ID | $51,430 | $24.73 | 7.79 | 950 |
| Des Moines-West Des Moines IA | $51,100 | $24.57 | 0.86 | 850 |
| North Georgia nonmetropolitan area | $51,030 | $24.53 | 2.66 | 1,220 |
| Western Wyoming nonmetropolitan area | $50,980 | $24.51 | 0.9 | 220 |
| Balance of Nevada nonmetropolitan area | $50,940 | $24.49 | 0.58 | 130 |
| St. Joseph MO-KS | $50,930 | $24.49 | 8.46 | 1,120 |
| Napa CA | $50,850 | $24.45 | 5.05 | 960 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill NC | $50,260 | $24.16 | 0.75 | 630 |
| Johnstown PA | $50,070 | $24.07 | 0.82 | 100 |
| Carson City NV | $49,920 | $24.00 | 0.92 | 70 |
| Battle Creek MI | $49,910 | $24.00 | 2.96 | 390 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguadilla PR | $21,840 | $10.50 | 0.7 | 80 |
| Mayaguez PR | $22,810 | $10.97 | 0.76 | 100 |
| Ponce PR | $23,120 | $11.11 | 1.18 | 180 |
| Arecibo PR | $27,220 | $13.09 | 0.68 | 60 |
| Southwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $27,620 | $13.28 | 1.1 | 170 |
| Laredo TX | $27,960 | $13.44 | 0.17 | 50 |
| Midland TX | $28,530 | $13.72 | 0.4 | 120 |
| Brownsville-Harlingen TX | $30,110 | $14.48 | 0.21 | 80 |
| Port St. Lucie FL | $30,210 | $14.53 | 0.53 | 220 |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission TX | $30,620 | $14.72 | 0.34 | 240 |
St. Joseph has 8.46× the national concentration of machine operators — the densest market in the country for this role, with 1,120 employed locally. Pay there is $50,930, which does not put it near the top of the pay table. Concentration and compensation are different things — a dense market is easier to get hired in and easier to move around within, but the competition that makes it dense also caps what employers need to offer.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph MO-KS | $50,930 | $24.49 | 8.46 | 1,120 |
| Logan UT-ID | $45,360 | $21.81 | 8.15 | 1,330 |
| Owensboro KY | $61,250 | $29.45 | 8.13 | 980 |
| Twin Falls ID | $51,430 | $24.73 | 7.79 | 950 |
| Kankakee IL | $45,480 | $21.86 | 7.77 | 800 |
| Gettysburg PA | $46,020 | $22.13 | 6.53 | 510 |
| Sheboygan WI | $47,120 | $22.65 | 6.12 | 910 |
| Joplin MO-KS | $47,040 | $22.61 | 6.03 | 1,280 |
| Gainesville GA | $40,820 | $19.63 | 5.35 | 1,360 |
| Longview-Kelso WA | $47,980 | $23.07 | 5.35 | 540 |
| Napa CA | $50,850 | $24.45 | 5.05 | 960 |
| Green Bay WI | $46,220 | $22.22 | 4.96 | 2,110 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $43,290 | $20.81 | 1.98 | 21,830 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $38,790 | $18.65 | 0.7 | 16,110 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $43,470 | $20.90 | 0.91 | 13,990 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $40,610 | $19.52 | 0.84 | 8,240 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $42,450 | $20.41 | 1.05 | 6,100 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $44,340 | $21.32 | 0.82 | 5,770 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | $47,460 | $22.82 | 1.5 | 4,910 |
| Cincinnati OH-KY-IN | $45,570 | $21.91 | 1.78 | 4,770 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA | $42,320 | $20.35 | 0.67 | 4,720 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $37,770 | $18.16 | 0.53 | 4,230 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $35,810 | $17.22 | 0.6 | 4,110 |
| Kansas nonmetropolitan area | $44,890 | $21.58 | 4.49 | 4,090 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 51-9111. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates are published for 456 of 528 metropolitan areas; the remaining 72 had too few survey responses for BLS to publish without risking disclosure, so they are absent here rather than estimated. For a specialised role that is normal. Read the methodology.