Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other salary

SOC 51-4199 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$45,950

per year, nationally

Middle half

$39,190–$54,100

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

15,900

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-9.5%

1,700 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.

$35,350$65,510

10th: $35,350
25th: $39,190
Median: $45,950
75th: $54,100
90th: $65,510

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 metal workers and plastic workers, all other 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	Hawaii	$78,000	110.0	30	0.51×
2	Washington	$65,760	107.0	360	1.00×
3	Oklahoma	$65,040	87.8	180	1.01×
4	Kentucky	$61,320	90.2	200	0.99×
5	New York	$60,740	107.9	150	0.16×
6	Montana	$56,740	94.6	110	2.02×
7	Utah	$54,940	98.9	30	0.20×
8	Indiana	$54,890	93.3	250	0.76×
9	Alabama	$54,360	88.8	80	0.39×
10	New Mexico	$53,080	92.2	40	0.44×
11	Colorado	$52,430	103.1	400	1.36×
12	Minnesota	$51,990	98.6	110	0.35×
13	Virginia	$51,690	101.1	130	0.30×
14	Maryland	$50,280	105.0	510	1.81×
15	Illinois	$49,570	100.0	170	0.27×
16	Oregon	$49,510	103.4	570	2.82×
17	Missouri	$48,920	90.8	210	0.69×
18	New Hampshire	$47,830	104.2	790	11.33×
19	California	$47,380	110.7	1,970	1.06×
20	Massachusetts	$47,060	105.8	30	0.08×
21	Arizona	$47,050	100.7	100	0.29×
22	Iowa	$46,570	87.8	40	0.23×
23	South Carolina	$46,470	93.7	400	1.68×
24	Nevada	$46,440	100.0	210	1.30×
25	Louisiana	$45,680	88.2	210	1.08×
26	Texas	$45,560	97.1	1,410	0.98×
27	Pennsylvania	$45,350	97.6	800	1.29×
28	North Carolina	$45,190	94.3	470	0.93×
29	Ohio	$45,180	92.8	790	1.40×
30	Wisconsin	$45,100	94.1	470	1.56×
31	Georgia	$42,030	96.3	1,730	3.46×
32	Maine	$41,600	97.0	60	0.93×
33	Arkansas	$40,570	86.9	180	1.32×
34	Connecticut	$40,260	103.6	350	1.99×
35	Michigan	$40,110	96.2	530	1.18×
36	Tennessee	$36,770	91.9	980	2.92×
37	Florida	$36,040	103.4	490	0.48×
38	New Jersey	$33,790	108.8	—	—

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 metal workers and plastic workers, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for metal workers and plastic workers, all other

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	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	$83,870	89.1	40	2.36×
2	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$74,050	99.6	50	1.18×
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$65,760	111.1	300	1.40×
4	Corpus Christi, TX	$62,520	92.7	50	2.39×
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$60,430	115.6	160	0.64×
6	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$57,140	105.4	330	2.65×
7	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$54,890	95.7	160	1.43×
8	Albany, OR	$54,020	102.1	60	13.20×
9	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$53,930	110.4	70	0.57×
10	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$53,090	105.8	220	1.36×
11	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$52,880	93.6	140	5.31×
12	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$52,180	101.0	—	—
13	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$51,690	97.9	90	1.14×
14	Spartanburg, SC	$51,500	91.1	80	4.55×
15	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$51,030	104.5	170	1.22×
16	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$50,650	111.9	160	1.05×
17	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$50,070	102.6	330	1.13×
18	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$50,050	108.3	180	0.65×
19	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$50,000	110.5	50	1.44×
20	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$49,720	91.9	110	4.65×
21	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$49,630	104.8	60	0.30×
22	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$49,570	103.6	120	0.25×
23	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$49,210	101.1	30	1.94×
24	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$49,120	92.7	80	2.06×
25	St. Louis, MO-IL	$48,920	95.1	150	1.11×
26	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$48,890	103.1	370	0.89×
27	Pittsburgh, PA	$48,890	94.7	120	1.02×
28	Greeley, CO	$48,210	100.2	30	2.65×
29	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$47,860	113.6	910	1.42×
30	Lancaster, PA	$47,780	98.3	50	2.03×
31	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$47,540	103.3	70	0.27×
32	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$47,300	96.9	140	1.63×
33	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$47,160	92.9	70	1.86×
34	Columbia, SC	$47,050	93.7	40	0.92×
35	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$46,930	105.7	220	10.55×
36	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$46,730	92.2	120	1.86×
37	Vallejo, CA	$46,450	108.5	30	2.16×
38	Reno, NV	$46,440	101.0	120	4.20×
39	Colorado Springs, CO	$46,030	100.7	40	1.19×
40	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$45,830	94.7	80	0.71×

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 metal workers and plastic workers, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where metal workers and plastic workers, all other earn the most

Best paying metro areas for metal workers and plastic workers, all other

Similar occupations

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