Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders salary

SOC 51-9192 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$43,530

per year, nationally

Middle half

$37,310–$49,320

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

14,760

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.6%

1,600 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.

$33,790$58,570

10th: $33,790
25th: $37,310
Median: $43,530
75th: $49,320
90th: $58,570

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
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 cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders 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	Maine	$64,610	97.0	40	0.72×
2	Wisconsin	$54,290	94.1	310	1.10×
3	Oregon	$49,130	103.4	70	0.35×
4	North Dakota	$48,240	89.0	60	1.55×
5	Pennsylvania	$48,000	97.6	370	0.64×
6	New Hampshire	$47,510	104.2	120	1.77×
7	Iowa	$46,970	87.8	430	2.89×
8	New York	$46,290	107.9	710	0.77×
9	Nebraska	$45,690	90.1	400	4.15×
10	Washington	$45,600	107.0	180	0.55×
11	Ohio	$45,470	92.8	1,010	1.91×
12	Virginia	$45,330	101.1	140	0.37×
13	California	$45,150	110.7	2,450	1.42×
14	South Dakota	$44,770	88.6	60	1.48×
15	Michigan	$44,400	96.2	820	1.97×
16	Indiana	$43,820	93.3	830	2.74×
17	Illinois	$43,740	100.0	70	0.12×
18	New Jersey	$43,600	108.8	590	1.44×
19	Massachusetts	$43,210	105.8	380	1.09×
20	Minnesota	$42,600	98.6	70	0.25×
21	Tennessee	$41,110	91.9	120	0.39×
22	Oklahoma	$40,950	87.8	450	2.79×
23	Missouri	$40,510	90.8	200	0.71×
24	Utah	$39,970	98.9	120	0.72×
25	South Carolina	$39,240	93.7	320	1.49×
26	Connecticut	$39,140	103.6	170	1.03×
27	Georgia	$38,430	96.3	600	1.30×
28	North Carolina	$38,340	94.3	260	0.56×
29	Kansas	$38,340	90.1	50	0.35×
30	Arizona	$37,900	100.7	370	1.21×
31	Arkansas	$37,490	86.9	90	0.72×
32	Texas	$37,040	97.1	1,380	1.04×
33	Florida	$36,830	103.4	170	0.18×
34	Nevada	$36,490	100.0	110	0.71×
35	Kentucky	$35,850	90.2	310	1.64×
36	New Mexico	$35,600	92.2	60	0.69×
37	Alabama	$35,090	88.8	140	0.71×
38	Mississippi	$34,280	87.0	90	0.86×
39	Idaho	$33,660	95.5	—	—

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 cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

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	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$64,850	96.9	70	0.95×
2	Portland-South Portland, ME	$64,610	101.9	30	1.10×
3	Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	$56,100	87.1	100	12.23×
4	Traverse City, MI	$53,550	93.4	30	4.97×
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$53,400	106.7	120	1.13×
6	Pittsburgh, PA	$51,070	94.7	70	0.66×
7	Napa, CA	$50,060	112.6	40	6.05×
8	Visalia, CA	$49,440	99.8	70	4.09×
9	Reading, PA	$49,140	97.1	40	2.54×
10	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$48,930	95.8	100	1.90×
11	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$47,900	98.1	90	0.71×
12	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$47,570	102.6	160	0.57×
13	Merced, CA	$47,540	98.3	80	10.95×
14	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$47,510	105.7	40	2.12×
15	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$47,360	110.4	90	0.81×
16	Gainesville, GA	$47,110	96.8	170	17.06×
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$46,980	104.8	50	0.25×
18	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$46,390	115.6	210	0.93×
19	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$46,370	107.8	30	1.56×
20	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	$46,160	90.3	40	3.48×
21	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$46,130	103.6	150	0.34×
22	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$45,980	95.5	240	4.18×
23	Evansville, IN	$45,750	91.5	90	6.75×
24	Rochester, NY	$45,380	97.0	110	2.25×
25	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$45,340	95.4	170	1.59×
26	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$45,310	100.9	50	1.67×
27	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$45,110	106.4	230	1.41×
28	Columbus, OH	$45,100	95.5	110	1.07×
29	Cleveland, OH	$45,100	93.9	180	1.84×
30	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$45,060	113.6	700	1.17×
31	Tulsa, OK	$45,040	89.2	140	3.13×
32	Fresno, CA	$44,910	102.2	170	3.74×
33	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$44,520	105.1	90	3.41×
34	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$44,420	111.9	120	0.86×
35	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$44,310	108.3	230	0.89×
36	St. Louis, MO-IL	$44,240	95.1	50	0.39×
37	Canton-Massillon, OH	$44,230	89.4	50	3.07×
38	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$43,680	95.7	210	2.00×
39	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$43,350	100.3	200	1.12×
40	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	$42,700	89.1	30	1.85×

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 cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders earn the most

Best paying metro areas for cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

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