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

SOC 51-4193 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$43,960

per year, nationally

Middle half

$37,260–$49,600

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

32,410

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-13.6%

2,500 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.

$33,790$60,370

10th: $33,790
25th: $37,260
Median: $43,960
75th: $49,600
90th: $60,370

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 plating 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	$70,910	87.8	440	1.36×
2	Washington	$58,000	107.0	410	0.55×
3	Mississippi	$52,090	87.0	60	0.25×
4	Arkansas	$51,140	86.9	230	0.84×
5	Oklahoma	$49,330	87.8	180	0.51×
6	Oregon	$48,050	103.4	310	0.77×
7	Nebraska	$48,010	90.1	400	1.86×
8	Colorado	$47,930	103.1	190	0.31×
9	Arizona	$47,110	100.7	640	0.95×
10	Utah	$46,940	98.9	180	0.49×
11	Ohio	$46,790	92.8	1,810	1.57×
12	California	$46,760	110.7	5,600	1.48×
13	Minnesota	$46,730	98.6	560	0.91×
14	Florida	$46,460	103.4	530	0.25×
15	New Hampshire	$46,300	104.2	60	0.43×
16	Massachusetts	$46,150	105.8	860	1.13×
17	Maine	$45,720	97.0	170	1.26×
18	Pennsylvania	$45,590	97.6	1,740	1.38×
19	New York	$45,510	107.9	830	0.41×
20	South Carolina	$44,560	93.7	470	0.99×
21	Idaho	$44,470	95.5	60	0.35×
22	Wisconsin	$44,350	94.1	940	1.54×
23	Missouri	$44,080	90.8	150	0.25×
24	North Carolina	$43,540	94.3	710	0.69×
25	Virginia	$43,380	101.1	270	0.32×
26	Maryland	$42,030	105.0	60	0.10×
27	New Jersey	$40,800	108.8	380	0.42×
28	Tennessee	$39,510	91.9	1,660	2.43×
29	Georgia	$39,160	96.3	660	0.64×
30	Texas	$39,060	97.1	2,090	0.71×
31	Kansas	$38,770	90.1	360	1.21×
32	Indiana	$38,680	93.3	1,250	1.88×
33	Illinois	$38,620	100.0	2,380	1.87×
34	Rhode Island	$38,580	102.3	450	4.32×
35	Michigan	$37,600	96.2	3,330	3.63×
36	Nevada	$37,460	100.0	60	0.18×
37	Connecticut	$37,220	103.6	620	1.75×
38	Kentucky	$34,680	90.2	630	1.51×
39	Louisiana	$34,040	88.2	100	0.25×
40	Alabama	$33,730	88.8	400	0.90×

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

Best paying metro areas for plating 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	Ogden, UT	$70,490	100.3	60	1.13×
2	Oklahoma City, OK	$65,040	90.4	90	0.66×
3	Omaha, NE-IA	$61,880	91.9	40	0.37×
4	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	$59,720	92.9	50	2.48×
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$58,400	111.1	210	0.48×
6	Jacksonville, FL	$56,350	99.5	40	0.26×
7	Reading, PA	$55,230	97.1	100	2.87×
8	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$53,680	115.6	460	0.93×
9	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$50,870	110.4	600	2.54×
10	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$50,520	107.8	70	1.57×
11	Lancaster, PA	$50,080	98.3	80	1.46×
12	New Haven, CT	$49,100	104.6	50	0.89×
13	South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	$48,810	92.9	50	1.71×
14	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$48,690	102.6	340	0.56×
15	Columbus, OH	$48,610	95.5	90	0.38×
16	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$48,610	100.0	100	1.27×
17	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$48,360	100.3	50	1.01×
18	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$48,250	105.4	300	1.19×
19	Lincoln, NE	$48,040	91.6	200	5.37×
20	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$47,930	105.8	130	0.38×
21	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$47,740	100.9	100	0.35×
22	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$47,630	96.3	540	2.36×
23	Cleveland, OH	$47,440	93.9	570	2.64×
24	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$47,410	108.9	50	0.08×
25	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$47,310	108.3	500	0.88×
26	Spartanburg, SC	$47,310	91.1	30	1.01×
27	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$47,200	103.3	550	1.11×
28	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$46,790	92.7	290	3.76×
29	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$46,760	104.8	400	0.99×
30	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$46,630	96.9	310	1.79×
31	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$46,420	113.6	3,160	2.42×
32	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$46,130	111.9	270	0.86×
33	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$46,120	105.1	70	1.11×
34	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$46,120	95.4	200	0.88×
35	Portland-South Portland, ME	$45,720	101.9	140	2.25×
36	Utica-Rome, NY	$45,650	92.7	30	1.29×
37	Kansas City, MO-KS	$45,540	92.5	70	0.29×
38	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$45,520	101.0	70	0.86×
39	Youngstown-Warren, OH	$45,480	87.4	110	3.36×
40	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$45,300	106.7	130	0.57×

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 plating 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.

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

What the range looks like

Getting in

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

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

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