Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary

SOC 51-4023 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$50,140

per year, nationally

Middle half

$44,020–$61,880

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

25,250

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-8.3%

1,900 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.

$37,690$70,310

10th: $37,690
25th: $44,020
Median: $50,140
75th: $61,880
90th: $70,310

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 rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 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	Iowa	$72,670	87.8	660	2.59×
2	Pennsylvania	$66,970	97.6	3,070	3.12×
3	Vermont	$66,240	98.0	40	0.79×
4	Washington	$63,560	107.0	350	0.60×
5	Maryland	$61,470	105.0	310	0.68×
6	New York	$60,890	107.9	420	0.27×
7	Minnesota	$60,620	98.6	50	0.11×
8	Connecticut	$60,610	103.6	150	0.54×
9	New Hampshire	$60,570	104.2	40	0.37×
10	Colorado	$57,500	103.1	110	0.24×
11	Illinois	$54,180	100.0	550	0.56×
12	Alabama	$53,380	88.8	1,710	4.99×
13	Wisconsin	$51,370	94.1	290	0.60×
14	Kentucky	$50,400	90.2	1,120	3.46×
15	Oregon	$50,400	103.4	140	0.44×
16	Ohio	$50,030	92.8	1,310	1.45×
17	Louisiana	$49,920	88.2	110	0.35×
18	Texas	$49,660	97.1	1,680	0.74×
19	Tennessee	$48,540	91.9	1,290	2.42×
20	North Carolina	$48,450	94.3	510	0.64×
21	Oklahoma	$48,330	87.8	290	1.04×
22	South Carolina	$48,210	93.7	820	2.19×
23	California	$48,040	110.7	1,150	0.39×
24	Massachusetts	$47,830	105.8	480	0.81×
25	Arizona	$47,820	100.7	110	0.20×
26	Utah	$47,540	98.9	60	0.22×
27	Missouri	$47,390	90.8	180	0.38×
28	New Jersey	$46,980	108.8	250	0.36×
29	Florida	$46,810	103.4	310	0.19×
30	Virginia	$46,450	101.1	450	0.67×
31	South Dakota	$46,040	88.6	70	0.96×
32	Arkansas	$45,890	86.9	420	2.01×
33	Nebraska	$45,800	90.1	230	1.38×
34	Indiana	$45,430	93.3	2,750	5.29×
35	Georgia	$45,050	96.3	1,070	1.35×
36	Michigan	$44,090	96.2	1,480	2.07×
37	North Dakota	$43,480	89.0	150	2.10×
38	Kansas	$40,260	90.1	170	0.74×
39	Mississippi	$39,320	87.0	230	1.23×

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 rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

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	Decatur, AL	$114,470	87.2	70	7.27×
2	Reading, PA	$70,310	97.1	670	23.60×
3	Pittsburgh, PA	$69,150	94.7	1,260	6.99×
4	Jackson, TN	$63,900	85.5	40	3.24×
5	New Haven, CT	$63,210	104.6	70	1.46×
6	Jacksonville, FL	$62,620	99.5	50	0.39×
7	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$61,090	102.6	210	0.44×
8	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$59,970	95.8	70	0.84×
9	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$59,660	100.3	500	1.63×
10	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$59,310	104.5	140	0.64×
11	Knoxville, TN	$58,680	92.6	320	4.66×
12	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$57,500	105.8	60	0.23×
13	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$57,280	103.1	490	0.74×
14	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$57,130	111.1	190	0.55×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$56,110	105.4	110	0.54×
16	Rockford, IL	$55,270	92.2	40	1.64×
17	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$54,680	96.9	80	0.58×
18	El Paso, TX	$52,950	89.9	60	1.14×
19	Birmingham, AL	$51,950	91.6	300	3.59×
20	Jackson, MI	$51,410	91.8	50	5.20×
21	Youngstown-Warren, OH	$50,910	87.4	160	6.02×
22	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$50,790	108.3	140	0.31×
23	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$50,400	93.1	550	4.95×
24	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$49,850	103.6	1,300	1.77×
25	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$49,690	111.9	150	0.61×
26	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$49,560	95.4	180	1.00×
27	Tulsa, OK	$48,900	89.2	150	1.96×
28	St. Louis, MO-IL	$48,860	95.1	80	0.39×
29	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$48,830	98.6	350	0.66×
30	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$48,740	97.3	240	1.09×
31	Cleveland, OH	$48,510	93.9	260	1.53×
32	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$48,490	96.3	260	1.45×
33	Rochester, NY	$48,320	97.0	30	0.39×
34	Omaha, NE-IA	$48,220	91.9	40	0.49×
35	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$48,180	103.3	70	0.19×
36	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$48,080	113.6	570	0.56×
37	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$47,830	101.8	300	2.59×
38	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$47,730	100.1	730	1.55×
39	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$47,270	93.6	80	1.83×
40	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$47,110	112.6	240	0.16×

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 rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn the most

Best paying metro areas for rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

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