High paying production jobs in Topeka, KS

Every production occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Topeka, KS. Read the percentile range, not just the median: the gap between the 10th and 90th inside a single production job is usually wider than the gap between two different ones, so where you land in a field matters more than which field you pick.

Cost of living: prices in Topeka, KS run 11.2% below the national average (2024), so a Topeka, KS salary is worth about 1.13× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find production jobs in Topeka, KS

OccupationMedian, Topeka, KS · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers$77,360
High school diploma or equivalent
$49,400 – $101,540480
2Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$57,050
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,070 – $75,060500
3Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$56,610
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,000 – $75,09040
4Machinists$56,400
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,980 – $82,630150
5Food Batchmakers$56,390
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,010 – $79,730770
6Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers$52,050
No formal educational credential
$35,650 – $59,250120
7Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$51,390
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,440 – $71,510330
8Dental Laboratory Technicians$49,300
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,900 – $61,58040
9Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$48,600
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,710 – $75,510130
10Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$48,570
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,400 – $68,630100
11Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$47,040
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,590 – $76,14040
12Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$45,570
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,130 – $75,040450
13Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$45,300
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,870 – $60,880790
14Printing Press Operators$44,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,090 – $60,860170
15Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$44,060
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,920 – $83,80070
16Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters$43,930
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,520 – $51,87050
17Butchers and Meat Cutters$36,700
No formal educational credential
$30,410 – $50,09080
18Bakers$32,400
No formal educational credential
$20,000 – $45,210100
19Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$29,940
No formal educational credential
$27,230 – $35,970150

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianTopeka, KS	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$77,360	$49,400 – $101,540	480
2	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$57,050	$38,070 – $75,060	500
3	Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$56,610	$37,000 – $75,090	40
4	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$56,400	$39,980 – $82,630	150
5	Food BatchmakersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$56,390	$38,010 – $79,730	770
6	Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and TrimmersNo formal educational credential	$52,050	$35,650 – $59,250	120
7	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$51,390	$37,440 – $71,510	330
8	Dental Laboratory TechniciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,300	$38,900 – $61,580	40
9	Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,600	$38,710 – $75,510	130
10	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,570	$33,400 – $68,630	100
11	Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,040	$40,590 – $76,140	40
12	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,570	$33,130 – $75,040	450
13	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,300	$31,870 – $60,880	790
14	Printing Press OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,970	$31,090 – $60,860	170
15	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,060	$35,920 – $83,800	70
16	Structural Metal Fabricators and FittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,930	$39,520 – $51,870	50
17	Butchers and Meat CuttersNo formal educational credential	$36,700	$30,410 – $50,090	80
18	BakersNo formal educational credential	$32,400	$20,000 – $45,210	100
19	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$29,940	$27,230 – $35,970	150

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Topeka, KS. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

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The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Topeka, KS to rank honestly.

High paying production jobs in Topeka, KS

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