How much do Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders make in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA?

Percentile spread

For Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders, the published 10th percentile is $46,760 and the 90th percentile is $56,150. The difference is $9,390, which is 16.7% of the median. Ten percent of measured wages fall below the 10th percentile and ten percent fall above the 90th. How to read a percentile.

The middle half of the distribution, from the 25th percentile at $56,100 to the 75th at $56,150, covers $50.

The mean annual wage is $54,540, which sits below the median of $56,100. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA median is 28.9% higher than the national median of $43,530 for Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders. In 2024 national prices the local median is $64,441, which is 48% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 19.4% higher than the Iowa median of $46,970.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA is 87.057, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $56,100 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders at $64,441 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

2 other metropolitan areas within 200 miles publish a annual median for Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA ranks 1st of 3 on that median, counting itself. Distance is the great-circle mileage between Census Bureau internal points (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer Files, Core Based Statistical Areas, internal points (INTPTLAT, INTPTLONG).).

• Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL is 130 miles away, with a median of $42,700 and employment of 30. That median is 23.9% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $47,935, against $64,441 here.
• Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI is 181 miles away, with a median of $46,980 and employment of 50. That median is 16.3% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $44,819, against $64,441 here.

Employment share

Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders accounts for 0.12% of wage-and-salary employment in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA (100 of 84,260). Nationally the occupation is 0.01% of employment (14,760 of 155,495,730). The local share is 12.50 times the national share. That ratio is the location quotient computed from these May 2025 employment counts. It is not copied from the location-quotient column in the BLS bulk file.