Where is it easiest to open: Other Snack Food Manufacturing
18 states, side by side. Operator counts and wages from Census and BLS; licence records matched on “SOC 51-9111” (soc) for Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 46 | 66.6 | $62,605 | not matched | — |
| TX | 34 | 76.1 | $54,759 | not matched | — |
| PA | 34 | 100.9 | $59,109 | not matched | — |
| MI | 12 | 87.6 | $37,416 | not matched | — |
| NY | 11 | 9.2 | $64,614 | not matched | — |
| OH | 11 | 167.3 | $62,260 | not matched | — |
| NJ | 10 | 71.0 | $47,314 | not matched | — |
| IL | 10 | 46.4 | $51,731 | not matched | — |
| WA | 7 | 104.0 | $59,238 | not matched | — |
| FL | 7 | 96.9 | $55,484 | not matched | — |
| WI | 6 | 161.5 | $51,630 | not matched | — |
| AZ | 6 | 162.5 | $79,444 | not matched | — |
| MN | 5 | 8.2 | $32,805 | not matched | — |
| UT | 4 | 139.0 | $47,644 | not matched | — |
| HI | 4 | 12.8 | $37,745 | not matched | — |
| OR | 3 | 17.0 | $52,706 | not matched | — |
| MD | 3 | 1.0 | $51,333 | not matched | — |
| NC | 3 | 305.3 | $58,366 | licence | Bottler |
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.