Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary

SOC 51-4034 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$50,620

per year, nationally

Middle half

$43,250–$60,700

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

16,710

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-13.6%

1,500 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.

$36,670$69,700

10th: $36,670
25th: $43,250
Median: $50,620
75th: $60,700
90th: $69,700

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 lathe and turning 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	Colorado	$71,670	103.1	150	0.49×
2	Maine	$64,800	97.0	80	1.17×
3	Minnesota	$61,000	98.6	150	0.46×
4	Massachusetts	$60,870	105.8	690	1.76×
5	California	$60,180	110.7	2,600	1.33×
6	Alabama	$58,490	88.8	100	0.45×
7	Nevada	$58,240	100.0	60	0.34×
8	Pennsylvania	$57,020	97.6	580	0.89×
9	Arizona	$55,840	100.7	110	0.33×
10	Illinois	$54,930	100.0	1,260	1.92×
11	Maryland	$54,860	105.0	60	0.20×
12	North Carolina	$53,840	94.3	310	0.59×
13	West Virginia	$53,660	89.5	50	0.64×
14	Wisconsin	$51,020	94.1	340	1.07×
15	New York	$50,760	107.9	530	0.51×
16	Louisiana	$50,560	88.2	90	0.43×
17	Iowa	$50,370	87.8	180	1.05×
18	Georgia	$50,180	96.3	100	0.19×
19	Ohio	$49,880	92.8	1,180	1.97×
20	South Carolina	$49,490	93.7	370	1.49×
21	Indiana	$49,420	93.3	710	2.08×
22	Connecticut	$49,380	103.6	690	3.79×
23	New Hampshire	$48,980	104.2	150	2.02×
24	Missouri	$48,950	90.8	160	0.51×
25	Virginia	$48,920	101.1	210	0.47×
26	New Jersey	$48,180	108.8	190	0.41×
27	Texas	$48,020	97.1	2,150	1.42×
28	Nebraska	$47,350	90.1	120	1.11×
29	Kansas	$47,310	90.1	90	0.57×
30	Kentucky	$47,060	90.2	250	1.14×
31	Michigan	$46,680	96.2	1,540	3.26×
32	Florida	$44,710	103.4	140	0.13×
33	Oklahoma	$43,680	87.8	240	1.30×
34	Oregon	$41,640	103.4	40	0.19×
35	Tennessee	$40,730	91.9	700	1.99×
36	Arkansas	$39,060	86.9	190	1.33×

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

Best paying metro areas for lathe and turning machine tool 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	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$74,420	110.4	360	2.99×
2	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$66,980	106.9	80	1.94×
3	Pittsburgh, PA	$66,500	94.7	220	1.88×
4	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$64,950	104.8	130	0.64×
5	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$64,790	105.8	60	0.33×
6	Spartanburg, SC	$61,940	91.1	90	4.93×
7	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$61,890	108.3	510	1.77×
8	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$61,050	111.9	240	1.47×
9	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$60,190	106.7	30	0.30×
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$60,110	113.6	1,280	1.90×
11	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$59,740	102.7	180	2.83×
12	Springfield, MA	$59,030	96.1	100	4.44×
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$57,990	106.4	230	1.25×
14	Peoria, IL	$57,330	91.2	190	10.59×
15	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$57,010	115.6	210	0.83×
16	New Haven, CT	$56,160	104.6	30	1.05×
17	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$55,850	103.3	90	0.35×
18	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$54,850	104.5	50	0.33×
19	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$53,840	97.3	130	0.89×
20	Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	$53,660	88.4	40	2.86×
21	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$52,570	95.7	130	1.13×
22	Worcester, MA	$52,440	102.5	80	2.14×
23	Canton-Massillon, OH	$52,330	89.4	90	5.09×
24	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$52,070	103.1	170	0.39×
25	South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	$52,000	92.9	40	2.87×
26	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$51,940	95.8	70	1.16×
27	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$51,900	93.1	100	1.33×
28	Youngstown-Warren, OH	$51,890	87.4	50	2.93×
29	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$51,850	96.3	150	1.24×
30	Cleveland, OH	$51,340	93.9	350	3.12×
31	Toledo, OH	$51,290	91.5	30	1.02×
32	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$50,870	96.9	80	0.89×
33	Rochester, NY	$50,760	97.0	120	2.32×
34	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$50,700	112.6	270	0.27×
35	Baton Rouge, LA	$50,550	90.8	40	0.88×
36	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$50,180	100.1	60	0.18×
37	St. Louis, MO-IL	$50,080	95.1	100	0.72×
38	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$49,980	103.6	590	1.22×
39	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$49,940	102.6	110	0.37×
40	Akron, OH	$49,530	93.4	60	1.75×

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 lathe and turning 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.

Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn the most

Best paying metro areas for lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

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