High paying production jobs in Charleston, WV with no experience

The best paid production occupations in Charleston, WV 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 Charleston, WV run 11.3% below the national average (2024), so a Charleston, WV 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 Charleston, WV

OccupationMedian, Charleston, WV · Employed

1Gas Plant Operators$85,790
High school diploma or equivalent
$60,520 – $118,690100
2Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders$77,670
High school diploma or equivalent
$49,040 – $94,940280
3Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$71,470
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,010 – $71,47090
4Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$50,680
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,080 – $57,83050
5Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$49,810
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,410 – $76,460260
6Machinists$48,110
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,780 – $74,770110
7Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$48,000
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,050 – $75,420190
8Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$46,570
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,590 – $78,120180
9Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$46,010
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,780 – $56,86060
10Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$40,260
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,260 – $40,880330
11Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$38,780
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,350 – $49,210380
12Printing Press Operators$37,220
High school diploma or equivalent
$25,780 – $53,27040
13Butchers and Meat Cutters$35,110
No formal educational credential
$27,650 – $45,84080
14Production Workers, All Other$29,850
High school diploma or equivalent
$29,140 – $45,740220
15Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$29,090
No formal educational credential
$23,140 – $35,550190
16Bakers$28,010
No formal educational credential
$22,550 – $44,990110

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

#	Occupation	MedianCharleston, WV	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Gas Plant OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$85,790	$60,520 – $118,690	100
2	Chemical Equipment Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$77,670	$49,040 – $94,940	280
3	Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$71,470	$36,010 – $71,470	90
4	Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$50,680	$36,080 – $57,830	50
5	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,810	$34,410 – $76,460	260
6	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,110	$35,780 – $74,770	110
7	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,000	$37,050 – $75,420	190
8	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,570	$36,590 – $78,120	180
9	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,010	$35,780 – $56,860	60
10	Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and FinishersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$40,260	$40,260 – $40,880	330
11	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$38,780	$30,350 – $49,210	380
12	Printing Press OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,220	$25,780 – $53,270	40
13	Butchers and Meat CuttersNo formal educational credential	$35,110	$27,650 – $45,840	80
14	Production Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$29,850	$29,140 – $45,740	220
15	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$29,090	$23,140 – $35,550	190
16	BakersNo formal educational credential	$28,010	$22,550 – $44,990	110

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Charleston, WV. 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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Without a degree

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

High paying production jobs in Charleston, WV with no experience

More for Charleston, WV

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Without a degree

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