Where is it easiest to open: Support Activities for Metal Mining
9 states, side by side. Operator counts and wages from Census and BLS; licence records matched on “SOC 47-1011” (soc) for First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers. A blank gate means NO RECORD MATCHED, which is not the same as no licence.
| State | Operators | Avg staff | Pay / employee | Gate | Licence titles matched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NV | 36 | 40.9 | $110,096 | not matched | — |
| ID | 13 | 45.3 | $81,762 | not matched | — |
| AK | 12 | 4.8 | $200,158 | licence | Engineer- Chemical, Civil, Electrical, |
| AZ | 11 | 29.7 | $135,174 | not matched | — |
| CO | 10 | 10.1 | $194,149 | not matched | — |
| UT | 7 | 62.7 | $116,335 | not matched | — |
| MT | 4 | 29.2 | $103,855 | licence | Surface Coal Mining Blasters |
| WA | 3 | 17.0 | $78,216 | licence | Mining Engineer |
| MN | 3 | 2.3 | $89,571 | not matched | — |
Axes are shown side by side and deliberately NOT collapsed into a ranking. A composite would be a score with no measured interval, and an unmeasured score is the thing this product exists to argue against. A high licence gate is a cost to enter and a moat once cleared — which of those matters more is the operator's call, not ours.
Licence data courtesy of CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. Free to read, no account, always — a condition of the data licence as well as our own position.