Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand salary

SOC 51-9022 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$42,660

per year, nationally

Middle half

$37,450–$49,980

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

10,510

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-21.2%

800 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$33,480$60,810

10th: $33,480
25th: $37,450
Median: $42,660
75th: $49,980
90th: $60,810

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where grinding and polishing workers, hand earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Vermont	$56,850	98.0	50	2.54×
2	Minnesota	$51,930	98.6	120	0.62×
3	Rhode Island	$51,630	102.3	130	3.71×
4	Montana	$50,460	94.6	—	—
5	Virginia	$48,830	101.1	330	1.18×
6	Connecticut	$48,670	103.6	230	1.98×
7	Kansas	$48,410	90.1	100	0.99×
8	Maryland	$48,390	105.0	—	—
9	New Hampshire	$47,920	104.2	40	0.80×
10	New Jersey	$47,840	108.8	300	1.03×
11	Wisconsin	$47,790	94.1	290	1.46×
12	Delaware	$47,780	99.8	40	1.16×
13	Missouri	$47,360	90.8	180	0.89×
14	Washington	$47,290	107.0	90	0.36×
15	Iowa	$47,280	87.8	—	—
16	New York	$47,240	107.9	440	0.67×
17	South Carolina	$45,710	93.7	260	1.69×
18	Nevada	$45,310	100.0	90	0.88×
19	California	$44,450	110.7	1,850	1.50×
20	Michigan	$44,430	96.2	650	2.17×
21	Massachusetts	$42,700	105.8	170	0.67×
22	Oregon	$42,380	103.4	160	1.21×
23	Georgia	$40,660	96.3	220	0.65×
24	Colorado	$40,600	103.1	70	0.38×
25	Pennsylvania	$40,510	97.6	140	0.35×
26	Ohio	$40,310	92.8	490	1.31×
27	Mississippi	$40,280	87.0	30	0.41×
28	West Virginia	$39,870	89.5	—	—
29	Florida	$39,480	103.4	510	0.77×
30	Arkansas	$38,960	86.9	140	1.56×
31	Indiana	$38,810	93.3	620	2.88×
32	Oklahoma	$38,340	87.8	160	1.41×
33	Arizona	$38,280	100.7	560	2.55×
34	Texas	$38,170	97.1	840	0.88×
35	North Carolina	$37,600	94.3	330	0.99×
36	Illinois	$36,590	100.0	60	0.15×
37	Alabama	$35,620	88.8	150	1.07×
38	Tennessee	$33,830	91.9	80	0.34×
39	Louisiana	$33,160	88.2	90	0.69×
40	New Mexico	$28,640	92.2	120	2.03×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where grinding and polishing workers, hand wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for grinding and polishing workers, hand

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$65,540	97.9	130	2.47×
2	St. Louis, MO-IL	$58,950	95.1	70	0.80×
3	Madison, WI	$56,160	97.3	60	2.12×
4	Kansas City, MO-KS	$53,620	92.5	60	0.83×
5	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$52,890	104.8	60	0.48×
6	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$51,770	95.4	90	1.20×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$51,680	110.4	100	1.34×
8	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$51,630	101.8	140	2.91×
9	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$51,310	111.1	60	0.42×
10	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$51,000	112.6	450	0.70×
11	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$48,980	115.6	120	0.76×
12	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$48,670	102.7	110	2.72×
13	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$48,220	108.9	80	0.35×
14	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$47,840	96.9	70	1.31×
15	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$47,690	99.8	—	—
16	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$46,960	100.3	280	2.15×
17	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$46,550	108.3	100	0.53×
18	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$46,300	102.6	90	0.46×
19	Columbia, SC	$45,710	93.7	40	1.33×
20	Port St. Lucie, FL	$45,360	100.2	40	3.81×
21	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$45,310	100.2	60	0.79×
22	Modesto, CA	$45,110	104.1	40	2.95×
23	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$45,070	92.7	40	1.73×
24	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$44,940	95.7	100	1.35×
25	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$44,740	100.9	60	0.60×
26	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$44,660	113.6	880	2.09×
27	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	$44,370	89.4	30	1.42×
28	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$43,510	105.1	40	2.21×
29	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$43,250	105.4	110	1.37×
30	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$43,050	106.7	80	1.10×
31	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$42,860	106.4	190	1.63×
32	Oklahoma City, OK	$41,470	90.4	40	0.82×
33	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$41,360	95.5	90	2.33×
34	Cleveland, OH	$40,630	93.9	130	1.83×
35	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$40,250	103.1	200	0.74×
36	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$40,110	111.9	130	1.25×
37	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$39,750	97.3	50	0.59×
38	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$39,730	110.5	70	3.00×
39	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$39,410	114.2	100	0.54×
40	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$38,920	98.6	210	0.92×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where grinding and polishing workers, hand wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where grinding and polishing workers, hand earn the most

Best paying metro areas for grinding and polishing workers, hand

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