High paying production jobs in Decatur, IL with no experience

The best paid production occupations in Decatur, 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 Decatur, IL run 11.6% below the national average (2024), so a Decatur, IL 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 Decatur, IL

OccupationMedian, Decatur, IL · Employed

1Tool and Die Makers$64,410
Postsecondary nondegree award
$35,520 – $76,49040
2Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$62,150
High school diploma or equivalent
$50,950 – $80,27050
3Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$59,160
High school diploma or equivalent
$43,330 – $61,820160
4Food Batchmakers$57,880
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,460 – $74,660490
5Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$57,700
High school diploma or equivalent
$42,770 – $62,110420
6Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$57,670
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,020 – $66,200200
7Machinists$56,980
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,960 – $64,42060
8Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators$56,690
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,670 – $56,69030
9Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$50,650
High school diploma or equivalent
$46,710 – $50,730140
10Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$50,040
High school diploma or equivalent
$41,300 – $57,2401,060
11Printing Press Operators$44,980
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,200 – $64,49050
12Helpers--Production Workers$44,960
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,760 – $78,54040
13Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$34,580
No formal educational credential
$31,200 – $36,29060

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

#	Occupation	MedianDecatur, IL	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Tool and Die MakersPostsecondary nondegree award	$64,410	$35,520 – $76,490	40
2	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$62,150	$50,950 – $80,270	50
3	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$59,160	$43,330 – $61,820	160
4	Food BatchmakersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$57,880	$37,460 – $74,660	490
5	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$57,700	$42,770 – $62,110	420
6	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$57,670	$47,020 – $66,200	200
7	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$56,980	$37,960 – $64,420	60
8	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$56,690	$34,670 – $56,690	30
9	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$50,650	$46,710 – $50,730	140
10	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$50,040	$41,300 – $57,240	1,060
11	Printing Press OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,980	$31,200 – $64,490	50
12	Helpers--Production WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,960	$36,760 – $78,540	40
13	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$34,580	$31,200 – $36,290	60

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

High paying production jobs in Decatur, IL with no experience

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