Food Batchmakers salary

SOC 51-3092 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$42,290

per year, nationally

Middle half

$36,350–$49,670

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

174,520

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+6.9%

24,200 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.

$31,990$58,940

10th: $31,990
25th: $36,350
Median: $42,290
75th: $49,670
90th: $58,940

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
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 batchmakers 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	Vermont	$50,180	98.0	1,000	2.94×
2	Idaho	$49,570	95.5	1,700	1.77×
3	Wisconsin	$48,360	94.1	18,040	5.46×
4	Iowa	$48,300	87.8	4,160	2.37×
5	Illinois	$48,130	100.0	12,320	1.80×
6	Kentucky	$46,900	90.2	4,570	2.03×
7	Georgia	$46,490	96.3	4,290	0.78×
8	Missouri	$45,690	90.8	2,280	0.69×
9	Colorado	$44,900	103.1	3,880	1.20×
10	Ohio	$44,590	92.8	7,040	1.13×
11	Minnesota	$42,940	98.6	7,660	2.31×
12	Kansas	$42,850	90.1	3,230	2.00×
13	Washington	$42,710	107.0	5,700	1.43×
14	Tennessee	$42,610	91.9	2,920	0.79×
15	Maine	$42,260	97.0	610	0.85×
16	California	$41,670	110.7	12,560	0.61×
17	Utah	$41,390	98.9	3,250	1.67×
18	Nebraska	$41,210	90.1	1,270	1.10×
19	Nevada	$41,120	100.0	880	0.50×
20	Virginia	$41,080	101.1	2,870	0.62×
21	North Dakota	$40,840	89.0	250	0.52×
22	Arizona	$40,550	100.7	2,300	0.63×
23	Maryland	$40,240	105.0	1,390	0.45×
24	Michigan	$40,160	96.2	5,130	1.04×
25	Pennsylvania	$39,920	97.6	8,160	1.20×
26	Oregon	$39,850	103.4	3,420	1.55×
27	Indiana	$39,700	93.3	5,570	1.55×
28	Montana	$39,630	94.6	170	0.30×
29	Rhode Island	$39,250	102.3	310	0.55×
30	South Dakota	$39,200	88.6	660	1.29×
31	Connecticut	$39,110	103.6	1,460	0.76×
32	Alaska	$39,030	102.4	100	0.27×
33	Arkansas	$38,990	86.9	2,120	1.45×
34	New York	$38,470	107.9	8,460	0.78×
35	Wyoming	$38,430	92.7	100	0.33×
36	New Jersey	$38,250	108.8	3,640	0.76×
37	Texas	$37,500	97.1	13,250	0.84×
38	Hawaii	$37,490	110.0	360	0.51×
39	New Hampshire	$37,470	104.2	190	0.25×
40	New Mexico	$37,390	92.2	450	0.46×
41	Delaware	$37,220	99.8	380	0.70×
42	South Carolina	$37,070	93.7	700	0.27×
43	Alabama	$36,980	88.8	1,280	0.54×
44	Massachusetts	$36,880	105.8	5,100	1.25×
45	North Carolina	$36,590	94.3	3,450	0.62×
46	Mississippi	$36,530	87.0	660	0.50×
47	Oklahoma	$36,320	87.8	930	0.49×
48	Florida	$35,500	103.4	3,670	0.33×
49	West Virginia	$34,660	89.5	70	0.09×
50	Louisiana	$34,620	88.2	530	0.24×

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 batchmakers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for food batchmakers

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	Cedar Rapids, IA	$77,920	89.0	480	3.07×
2	Battle Creek, MI	$75,370	90.5	270	4.42×
3	Harrisonburg, VA	$66,330	94.9	200	2.78×
4	Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN	$60,680	93.4	150	1.33×
5	Binghamton, NY	$60,670	92.9	80	0.78×
6	Decatur, IL	$57,880	88.4	490	9.50×
7	Williamsport, PA	$57,630	92.3	100	1.79×
8	Lexington-Fayette, KY	$56,730	92.9	490	1.51×
9	Topeka, KS	$56,390	88.8	770	5.93×
10	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	$53,160	88.5	180	1.02×
11	Rockford, IL	$52,500	92.2	430	2.81×
12	Eau Claire, WI	$52,110	92.8	400	4.18×
13	St. Louis, MO-IL	$52,000	95.1	990	0.66×
14	Sheboygan, WI	$51,490	94.0	1,910	28.13×
15	Ames, IA	$50,950	88.8	110	1.68×
16	Grand Forks, ND-MN	$50,720	86.7	180	3.13×
17	Janesville-Beloit, WI	$50,350	93.7	420	5.39×
18	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$50,180	100.9	500	3.69×
19	Greeley, CO	$49,710	100.2	670	4.96×
20	Boise City, ID	$49,570	98.4	690	1.57×
21	Fargo, ND-MN	$49,390	90.9	140	0.81×
22	Appleton, WI	$49,390	92.4	1,420	10.15×
23	Rochester, NY	$49,180	97.0	790	1.43×
24	Rochester, MN	$49,170	90.8	200	1.43×
25	Dubuque, IA	$49,130	87.3	140	2.18×
26	Fond du Lac, WI	$48,880	91.6	220	4.54×
27	Green Bay, WI	$48,850	93.1	1,230	6.30×
28	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$48,780	100.1	2,530	0.78×
29	Bowling Green, KY	$48,670	90.2	310	3.32×
30	Wausau, WI	$48,560	92.7	1,090	13.94×
31	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	$48,250	90.3	200	1.40×
32	Iowa City, IA	$48,030	91.5	70	0.69×
33	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	$47,890	92.9	120	1.09×
34	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$47,660	103.6	8,490	1.68×
35	Columbus, OH	$47,630	95.5	820	0.66×
36	Yakima, WA	$47,620	95.5	260	2.39×
37	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$47,470	95.4	1,590	1.29×
38	Toledo, OH	$47,390	91.5	400	1.22×
39	Springfield, MO	$47,330	88.6	230	0.91×
40	Reno, NV	$47,210	101.0	250	0.80×

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 batchmakers 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
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$44,810