High paying production jobs in Champaign-Urbana, IL with no experience

The best paid production occupations in Champaign-Urbana, IL that require neither a degree nor prior experience in a related job. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Champaign-Urbana, IL run 7.3% below the national average (2024), so a Champaign-Urbana, IL salary is worth about 1.08× 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 Champaign-Urbana, IL

OccupationMedian, Champaign-Urbana, IL · Employed

1Power Distributors and Dispatchers$80,800
High school diploma or equivalent
$80,800 – $106,88060
2Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$61,720
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,670 – $85,70090
3Machinists$58,910
High school diploma or equivalent
$45,470 – $106,040100
4Tool and Die Makers$58,000
Postsecondary nondegree award
$41,400 – $80,17060
5Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$48,790
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,530 – $62,220100
6Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$48,610
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,250 – $62,690100
7Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators$48,320
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,830 – $74,33040
8Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$47,560
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,380 – $71,56090
9Production Workers, All Other$47,090
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,070 – $60,32060
10Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$47,050
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,540 – $60,300490
11Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$46,600
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,740 – $66,810200
12Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$46,140
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,700 – $61,640130
13Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$45,090
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,510 – $60,190100
14Printing Press Operators$44,400
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,200 – $60,120130
15Helpers--Production Workers$43,980
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,110 – $48,10040
16Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$42,930
High school diploma or equivalent
$32,390 – $57,770390
17Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$42,730
High school diploma or equivalent
$32,580 – $54,8301,260
18Food Processing Workers, All Other$39,250
No formal educational credential
$37,720 – $49,44050
19Butchers and Meat Cutters$37,960
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $50,820150
20Bakers$36,580
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $44,840250
21Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$34,650
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $45,380120

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

#	Occupation	MedianChampaign-Urbana, IL	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Power Distributors and DispatchersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$80,800	$80,800 – $106,880	60
2	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$61,720	$38,670 – $85,700	90
3	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$58,910	$45,470 – $106,040	100
4	Tool and Die MakersPostsecondary nondegree award	$58,000	$41,400 – $80,170	60
5	Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,790	$31,530 – $62,220	100
6	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,610	$39,250 – $62,690	100
7	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,320	$37,830 – $74,330	40
8	Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,560	$37,380 – $71,560	90
9	Production Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,090	$36,070 – $60,320	60
10	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$47,050	$35,540 – $60,300	490
11	Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,600	$33,740 – $66,810	200
12	Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and FinishersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,140	$33,700 – $61,640	130
13	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,090	$36,510 – $60,190	100
14	Printing Press OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,400	$31,200 – $60,120	130
15	Helpers--Production WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,980	$38,110 – $48,100	40
16	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$42,930	$32,390 – $57,770	390
17	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$42,730	$32,580 – $54,830	1,260
18	Food Processing Workers, All OtherNo formal educational credential	$39,250	$37,720 – $49,440	50
19	Butchers and Meat CuttersNo formal educational credential	$37,960	$31,200 – $50,820	150
20	BakersNo formal educational credential	$36,580	$31,200 – $44,840	250
21	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$34,650	$31,200 – $45,380	120

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Champaign-Urbana, IL. 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 Champaign-Urbana, IL to rank honestly.

High paying production jobs in Champaign-Urbana, IL with no experience

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