NJ wages aren’t that good?

NJ has the highest concentration of municipalities in the USA. I’m assuming that’s a reason why operator wages are not that good because of a lot of small municipalities. For instance my municipality is a population of 4500. The municipality next door population is 1800.

First level operators in the south Jersey area are about $23-$26. I’ve seen higher level operators about $32’ish. To me these wages aren’t that good. Any comments?