Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders salary

SOC 51-3091 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$44,810

per year, nationally

Middle half

$37,540–$50,680

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

20,370

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+0.6%

2,400 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$33,250$62,680

10th: $33,250
25th: $37,540
Median: $44,810
75th: $50,680
90th: $62,680

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	North Dakota	$77,300	89.0	30	0.54×
2	Maryland	$60,170	105.0	200	0.55×
3	Colorado	$59,590	103.1	500	1.34×
4	Virginia	$59,260	101.1	270	0.49×
5	Alaska	$55,280	102.4	30	0.76×
6	Nevada	$54,950	100.0	130	0.63×
7	Washington	$50,590	107.0	720	1.54×
8	Minnesota	$50,340	98.6	1,120	2.91×
9	Maine	$50,220	97.0	100	1.24×
10	Pennsylvania	$49,660	97.6	540	0.69×
11	New York	$49,020	107.9	1,370	1.08×
12	Wisconsin	$48,560	94.1	540	1.39×
13	Kentucky	$48,540	90.2	340	1.30×
14	Idaho	$48,250	95.5	430	3.82×
15	Michigan	$48,240	96.2	700	1.22×
16	Iowa	$47,960	87.8	660	3.24×
17	Utah	$47,940	98.9	130	0.56×
18	Oregon	$46,250	103.4	500	1.94×
19	California	$45,600	110.7	1,630	0.68×
20	Massachusetts	$45,400	105.8	190	0.39×
21	Hawaii	$45,390	110.0	90	1.06×
22	Arkansas	$45,080	86.9	580	3.43×
23	South Dakota	$45,040	88.6	120	2.05×
24	Kansas	$44,550	90.1	220	1.17×
25	Ohio	$44,190	92.8	910	1.25×
26	Missouri	$43,460	90.8	1,030	2.67×
27	Nebraska	$43,410	90.1	440	3.27×
28	Indiana	$43,370	93.3	260	0.63×
29	Arizona	$43,010	100.7	90	0.21×
30	Oklahoma	$42,390	87.8	370	1.67×
31	Connecticut	$41,720	103.6	60	0.25×
32	Vermont	$40,990	98.0	80	2.08×
33	South Carolina	$40,000	93.7	140	0.47×
34	Tennessee	$39,130	91.9	350	0.83×
35	Louisiana	$38,440	88.2	80	0.33×
36	Illinois	$38,230	100.0	440	0.55×
37	Georgia	$37,390	96.3	290	0.45×
38	Texas	$37,140	97.1	1,800	0.98×
39	New Jersey	$37,140	108.8	630	1.12×
40	Mississippi	$37,030	87.0	60	0.41×
41	North Carolina	$35,980	94.3	1,510	2.33×
42	New Mexico	$35,480	92.2	70	0.58×
43	Montana	$35,360	94.6	130	1.91×
44	Florida	$35,340	103.4	360	0.27×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$78,750	104.5	120	0.68×
2	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$62,890	105.8	310	1.45×
3	Modesto, CA	$61,130	104.1	70	2.91×
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$60,230	111.1	280	1.01×
5	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$60,170	108.9	90	0.22×
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$56,270	106.7	100	0.69×
7	Appleton, WI	$55,400	92.4	70	4.57×
8	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$54,950	100.2	80	0.57×
9	Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	$52,650	86.5	60	6.36×
10	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$51,160	101.6	40	6.50×
11	Yakima, WA	$50,840	95.5	40	2.90×
12	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$50,800	99.6	80	1.38×
13	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$50,680	115.6	120	0.38×
14	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$49,970	95.5	190	2.48×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$49,920	105.4	300	1.89×
16	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$49,860	98.2	70	0.69×
17	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$49,780	91.7	40	0.83×
18	Pittsburgh, PA	$49,570	94.7	—	—
19	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$49,090	96.9	80	0.73×
20	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$48,570	106.4	120	0.53×
21	St. Cloud, MN	$48,370	87.6	70	5.06×
22	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$48,350	109.4	50	1.31×
23	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$48,330	102.6	460	1.22×
24	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$48,000	104.8	340	1.34×
25	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	$47,710	89.4	—	—
26	Portland-South Portland, ME	$47,600	101.9	30	0.82×
27	St. Joseph, MO-KS	$47,440	86.4	90	12.53×
28	Twin Falls, ID	$47,210	92.1	40	5.63×
29	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$47,110	112.6	1,190	0.96×
30	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$47,010	92.9	80	1.61×
31	St. Louis, MO-IL	$46,860	95.1	320	1.80×
32	Salinas, CA	$46,650	109.0	300	12.36×
33	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$46,320	95.8	90	1.25×
34	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$46,250	95.4	170	1.16×
35	Kansas City, MO-KS	$46,180	92.5	100	0.72×
36	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$46,120	108.3	120	0.33×
37	Syracuse, NY	$46,080	95.7	140	3.50×
38	Rochester, NY	$45,970	97.0	50	0.76×
39	Urban Honolulu, HI	$45,450	111.0	50	0.91×
40	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$45,110	101.0	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Bakers$37,160
Food Batchmakers$42,290
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers$38,300
Butchers and Meat Cutters$40,140
Slaughterers and Meat Packers$40,130
Food Processing Workers, All Other$39,680
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders$41,590

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders earn the most

Best paying metro areas for food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders

Similar occupations

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