Prepress Technicians and Workers salary

SOC 51-5111 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$48,690

per year, nationally

Middle half

$40,930–$58,580

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

23,840

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-14.6%

2,800 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.

$35,810$66,080

10th: $35,810
25th: $40,930
Median: $48,690
75th: $58,580
90th: $66,080

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Postsecondary nondegree award
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where prepress technicians and workers 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	District of Columbia	$100,980	109.9	180	1.65×
2	Maryland	$60,770	105.0	480	1.14×
3	Massachusetts	$57,250	105.8	460	0.82×
4	New Jersey	$56,840	108.8	880	1.34×
5	Vermont	$55,880	98.0	40	0.80×
6	Nevada	$55,680	100.0	130	0.56×
7	Oregon	$54,360	103.4	230	0.76×
8	California	$53,860	110.7	2,020	0.72×
9	Washington	$53,770	107.0	380	0.71×
10	Arkansas	$52,800	86.9	160	0.80×
11	New York	$52,420	107.9	1,110	0.74×
12	Montana	$51,910	94.6	40	0.52×
13	Colorado	$51,730	103.1	150	0.35×
14	Georgia	$50,280	96.3	320	0.43×
15	North Carolina	$49,760	94.3	600	0.80×
16	Illinois	$49,450	100.0	680	0.72×
17	Minnesota	$49,130	98.6	2,880	6.36×
18	Pennsylvania	$49,100	97.6	910	0.98×
19	Virginia	$49,100	101.1	330	0.53×
20	Indiana	$49,050	93.3	670	1.36×
21	Connecticut	$48,780	103.6	430	1.66×
22	New Hampshire	$48,580	104.2	120	1.11×
23	Wisconsin	$48,410	94.1	1,160	2.57×
24	Ohio	$47,810	92.8	1,070	1.26×
25	Tennessee	$47,790	91.9	640	1.27×
26	Iowa	$47,770	87.8	210	0.90×
27	Maine	$47,350	97.0	50	0.51×
28	Idaho	$47,220	95.5	50	0.41×
29	Michigan	$46,960	96.2	540	0.80×
30	South Dakota	$46,370	88.6	50	0.71×
31	Rhode Island	$45,930	102.3	—	—
32	South Carolina	$45,900	93.7	200	0.55×
33	Missouri	$45,860	90.8	510	1.14×
34	Kentucky	$45,830	90.2	1,130	3.69×
35	Oklahoma	$45,730	87.8	80	0.31×
36	Florida	$45,660	103.4	840	0.55×
37	Kansas	$45,290	90.1	520	2.34×
38	Utah	$44,230	98.9	210	0.80×
39	Nebraska	$40,930	90.1	400	2.56×
40	New Mexico	$39,830	92.2	30	0.24×
41	Arizona	$38,830	100.7	210	0.43×
42	Texas	$38,410	97.1	2,320	1.08×
43	Louisiana	$38,060	88.2	90	0.31×
44	West Virginia	$35,320	89.5	50	0.47×
45	Alabama	$35,020	88.8	130	0.39×

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 prepress technicians and workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for prepress technicians and workers

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	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$70,670	108.9	490	1.01×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$66,670	110.4	80	0.46×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$59,970	115.6	200	0.55×
4	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$59,540	91.4	60	1.46×
5	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	$58,430	92.9	180	12.74×
6	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$58,360	108.3	290	0.71×
7	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	$58,200	89.4	40	0.70×
8	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$57,850	97.6	30	0.63×
9	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$56,930	104.5	190	0.93×
10	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$56,850	105.4	200	1.06×
11	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	$56,850	88.5	30	1.30×
12	Reno, NV	$56,740	101.0	30	0.75×
13	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$55,680	102.6	410	0.92×
14	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$55,680	100.2	100	0.56×
15	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$55,560	106.7	130	0.77×
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$55,370	111.1	240	0.74×
17	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$54,590	112.6	1,290	0.88×
18	Ames, IA	$54,460	88.8	40	4.38×
19	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$54,000	91.7	40	0.60×
20	Fort Wayne, IN	$53,660	92.6	40	1.06×
21	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$53,560	105.8	100	0.41×
22	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$53,410	111.9	160	0.69×
23	Appleton, WI	$53,150	92.4	90	4.88×
24	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$52,000	100.1	210	0.48×
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$51,410	106.4	110	0.42×
26	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$51,380	113.6	1,080	1.12×
27	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$51,180	110.5	50	0.93×
28	Fresno, CA	$50,890	102.2	40	0.50×
29	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$50,860	97.3	170	0.80×
30	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$50,750	106.9	90	1.42×
31	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$50,660	100.0	50	0.91×
32	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$50,370	92.7	50	0.95×
33	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	$50,340	97.1	50	1.19×
34	Rochester, NY	$50,320	97.0	160	2.17×
35	Asheville, NC	$49,920	96.5	40	1.41×
36	Richmond, VA	$49,850	97.9	50	0.52×
37	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$49,770	95.7	280	1.65×
38	Winston-Salem, NC	$49,760	92.0	90	2.22×
39	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$49,680	103.6	580	0.84×
40	Columbus, OH	$49,650	95.5	180	1.07×

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 prepress technicians and workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Printing Press Operators$45,780
Print Binding and Finishing Workers$42,290