High paying production jobs in Cleveland, TN with no experience

The best paid production occupations in Cleveland, TN 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 Cleveland, TN run 11.9% below the national average (2024), so a Cleveland, TN salary is worth about 1.14× 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 Cleveland, TN

OccupationMedian, Cleveland, TN · Employed

1Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$50,670
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,550 – $95,10070
2Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators$48,080
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,880 – $56,38080
3Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$46,670
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,940 – $66,670120
4Machinists$46,120
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,900 – $61,73050
5Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$45,560
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,200 – $58,22050
6Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$44,520
High school diploma or equivalent
$24,950 – $58,490360
7Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$44,510
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,950 – $51,52060
8Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$44,110
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,000 – $47,6001,100
9Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$43,720
High school diploma or equivalent
$32,150 – $52,28070
10Food Processing Workers, All Other$39,380
No formal educational credential
$33,310 – $50,610100
11Helpers--Production Workers$38,170
High school diploma or equivalent
$25,150 – $46,74060
12Production Workers, All Other$38,010
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,000 – $48,670500
13Woodworkers, All Other$37,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$27,380 – $43,80040
14Sewing Machine Operators$36,400
No formal educational credential
$22,480 – $43,73050
15Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$32,970
High school diploma or equivalent
$29,940 – $49,220220
16Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$32,770
No formal educational credential
$27,700 – $36,03060
17Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers$30,160
No formal educational credential
$22,360 – $38,97030
18Bakers$29,420
No formal educational credential
$21,480 – $38,950150

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

#	Occupation	MedianCleveland, TN	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$50,670	$37,550 – $95,100	70
2	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,080	$39,880 – $56,380	80
3	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,670	$37,940 – $66,670	120
4	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,120	$35,900 – $61,730	50
5	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,560	$34,200 – $58,220	50
6	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,520	$24,950 – $58,490	360
7	Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,510	$35,950 – $51,520	60
8	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,110	$31,000 – $47,600	1,100
9	Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,720	$32,150 – $52,280	70
10	Food Processing Workers, All OtherNo formal educational credential	$39,380	$33,310 – $50,610	100
11	Helpers--Production WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$38,170	$25,150 – $46,740	60
12	Production Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$38,010	$30,000 – $48,670	500
13	Woodworkers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,970	$27,380 – $43,800	40
14	Sewing Machine OperatorsNo formal educational credential	$36,400	$22,480 – $43,730	50
15	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$32,970	$29,940 – $49,220	220
16	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$32,770	$27,700 – $36,030	60
17	Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and TrimmersNo formal educational credential	$30,160	$22,360 – $38,970	30
18	BakersNo formal educational credential	$29,420	$21,480 – $38,950	150

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Cleveland, TN. 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 Cleveland, TN to rank honestly.

High paying production jobs in Cleveland, TN with no experience

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High paying production jobs in each state with no experience