Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary

SOC 51-4032 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$49,080

per year, nationally

Middle half

$41,710–$57,940

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

4,680

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-19.6%

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.

$36,300$68,410

10th: $36,300
25th: $41,710
Median: $49,080
75th: $57,940
90th: $68,410

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 drilling and boring machine tool 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	Virginia	$90,390	101.1	100	0.80×
2	Massachusetts	$77,780	105.8	60	0.58×
3	Idaho	$69,590	95.5	70	2.78×
4	Florida	$66,340	103.4	80	0.27×
5	Michigan	$60,410	96.2	190	1.42×
6	New Hampshire	$59,800	104.2	40	2.07×
7	Illinois	$56,720	100.0	390	2.14×
8	New York	$55,310	107.9	70	0.23×
9	Oklahoma	$55,230	87.8	250	4.94×
10	Alabama	$53,110	88.8	140	2.24×
11	South Carolina	$52,040	93.7	70	1.02×
12	Kentucky	$51,740	90.2	—	—
13	Ohio	$51,670	92.8	200	1.20×
14	Colorado	$51,280	103.1	40	0.41×
15	Mississippi	$49,930	87.0	50	1.56×
16	Wisconsin	$49,640	94.1	60	0.67×
17	California	$49,080	110.7	690	1.26×
18	Arizona	$48,140	100.7	70	0.75×
19	New Jersey	$47,870	108.8	70	0.54×
20	Minnesota	$47,010	98.6	110	1.27×
21	North Carolina	$46,970	94.3	50	0.37×
22	Arkansas	$46,730	86.9	60	1.60×
23	Pennsylvania	$46,370	97.6	180	0.97×
24	Georgia	$46,270	96.3	80	0.53×
25	Tennessee	$45,070	91.9	400	4.07×
26	West Virginia	$45,060	89.5	—	—
27	Missouri	$44,990	90.8	80	0.88×
28	Texas	$44,350	97.1	220	0.52×
29	Iowa	$43,860	87.8	110	2.43×
30	Connecticut	$41,080	103.6	50	0.89×
31	Indiana	$39,110	93.3	300	3.13×

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

Best paying metro areas for drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

The 22 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	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$79,120	108.3	60	0.72×
2	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$63,320	100.3	80	1.46×
3	Tulsa, OK	$58,210	89.2	180	13.31×
4	Peoria, IL	$56,840	91.2	70	13.18×
5	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$52,260	95.4	70	2.14×
6	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$51,740	93.1	—	—
7	Cleveland, OH	$51,670	93.9	70	2.19×
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$50,920	110.4	130	3.69×
9	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$50,810	112.6	80	0.26×
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$49,080	113.6	400	2.09×
11	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	$48,480	90.3	50	11.81×
12	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$48,140	103.3	60	0.82×
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$47,330	106.4	50	0.91×
14	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$47,010	104.8	70	1.15×
15	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$46,460	98.6	90	0.89×
16	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$46,270	100.1	50	0.52×
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$45,960	111.9	30	0.73×
18	Chattanooga, TN-GA	$41,810	91.5	60	7.88×
19	Knoxville, TN	$41,710	92.6	70	5.24×
20	Pittsburgh, PA	$40,170	94.7	80	2.47×
21	Oklahoma City, OK	$37,340	90.4	50	2.36×
22	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$35,660	103.6	110	0.81×

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 drilling and boring machine tool 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.

Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn the most

Best paying metro areas for drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

Similar occupations

Compare