High paying production jobs in State College, PA with no experience

The best paid production occupations in State College, PA 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 State College, PA run 3.2% below the national average (2024), so a State College, PA salary is worth about 1.03× 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 State College, PA

OccupationMedian, State College, PA · Employed

1Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators$59,990
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,740 – $78,020110
2Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$51,030
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,560 – $64,950140
3Machinists$50,900
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,110 – $73,330120
4Production Workers, All Other$46,750
High school diploma or equivalent
$32,930 – $83,85050
5Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$45,670
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,330 – $58,590100
6Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$45,130
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,020 – $65,37030
7Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators$45,100
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,910 – $60,13050
8Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$44,860
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,610 – $59,740230
9Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$44,630
High school diploma or equivalent
$34,770 – $58,780390
10Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters$44,020
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,200 – $59,85040
11Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$40,190
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,740 – $50,130350
12Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$39,940
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,000 – $58,52040
13Butchers and Meat Cutters$39,030
No formal educational credential
$28,770 – $52,80030
14Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$34,390
No formal educational credential
$26,500 – $38,020110
15Bakers$33,140
No formal educational credential
$22,260 – $43,63090

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

#	Occupation	MedianState College, PA	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$59,990	$47,740 – $78,020	110
2	Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and BrazersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$51,030	$36,560 – $64,950	140
3	MachinistsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$50,900	$37,110 – $73,330	120
4	Production Workers, All OtherHigh school diploma or equivalent	$46,750	$32,930 – $83,850	50
5	Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,670	$33,330 – $58,590	100
6	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,130	$37,020 – $65,370	30
7	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$45,100	$36,910 – $60,130	50
8	Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,860	$34,610 – $59,740	230
9	Miscellaneous Assemblers and FabricatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,630	$34,770 – $58,780	390
10	Cabinetmakers and Bench CarpentersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,020	$31,200 – $59,850	40
11	Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and FinishersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$40,190	$33,740 – $50,130	350
12	Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticHigh school diploma or equivalent	$39,940	$33,000 – $58,520	40
13	Butchers and Meat CuttersNo formal educational credential	$39,030	$28,770 – $52,800	30
14	Laundry and Dry-Cleaning WorkersNo formal educational credential	$34,390	$26,500 – $38,020	110
15	BakersNo formal educational credential	$33,140	$22,260 – $43,630	90

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in State College, PA. 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 State College, PA to rank honestly.

High paying production jobs in State College, PA with no experience

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