Printing Press Operators salary

SOC 51-5112 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$45,780

per year, nationally

Middle half

$37,390–$55,740

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

144,260

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-8.1%

13,700 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.

$33,330$63,520

10th: $33,330
25th: $37,390
Median: $45,780
75th: $55,740
90th: $63,520

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 printing press operators 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	$116,630	109.9	350	0.54×
2	Massachusetts	$53,050	105.8	2,110	0.62×
3	New Jersey	$50,430	108.8	4,180	1.05×
4	Washington	$49,800	107.0	2,310	0.70×
5	Oregon	$48,760	103.4	1,330	0.73×
6	Minnesota	$48,560	98.6	4,960	1.81×
7	New Hampshire	$48,410	104.2	680	1.07×
8	Kentucky	$48,000	90.2	2,470	1.33×
9	New York	$47,860	107.9	6,700	0.75×
10	Colorado	$47,860	103.1	1,830	0.69×
11	Maryland	$47,840	105.0	1,250	0.49×
12	Maine	$47,430	97.0	300	0.50×
13	Wisconsin	$47,330	94.1	8,120	2.97×
14	Pennsylvania	$47,010	97.6	7,150	1.27×
15	Arkansas	$46,470	86.9	1,760	1.46×
16	Alaska	$46,460	102.4	170	0.57×
17	Vermont	$46,460	98.0	190	0.67×
18	Illinois	$46,260	100.0	9,550	1.69×
19	Missouri	$46,130	90.8	3,460	1.27×
20	California	$46,110	110.7	12,320	0.73×
21	Ohio	$45,760	92.8	7,500	1.46×
22	Connecticut	$45,670	103.6	1,610	1.02×
23	North Carolina	$45,630	94.3	3,910	0.85×
24	Hawaii	$45,390	110.0	350	0.60×
25	Rhode Island	$45,380	102.3	510	1.11×
26	Michigan	$45,280	96.2	5,110	1.25×
27	Indiana	$45,230	93.3	4,820	1.62×
28	South Dakota	$44,930	88.6	460	1.08×
29	Delaware	$44,600	99.8	210	0.48×
30	Virginia	$44,020	101.1	3,210	0.84×
31	Nevada	$43,500	100.0	1,360	0.94×
32	Tennessee	$43,160	91.9	3,510	1.16×
33	Arizona	$42,950	100.7	2,400	0.80×
34	Texas	$42,550	97.1	9,110	0.70×
35	Montana	$42,220	94.6	300	0.63×
36	Nebraska	$42,070	90.1	2,140	2.25×
37	Kansas	$41,890	90.1	2,640	1.98×
38	Georgia	$41,520	96.3	4,220	0.93×
39	West Virginia	$41,200	89.5	470	0.72×
40	Florida	$41,180	103.4	7,060	0.77×
41	Utah	$41,030	98.9	1,970	1.22×
42	Iowa	$40,790	87.8	2,070	1.43×
43	Wyoming	$40,760	92.7	90	0.36×
44	South Carolina	$40,470	93.7	2,100	0.98×
45	Idaho	$38,650	95.5	610	0.77×
46	Mississippi	$38,400	87.0	670	0.62×
47	North Dakota	$37,850	89.0	270	0.67×
48	Louisiana	$37,650	88.2	870	0.48×
49	New Mexico	$37,110	92.2	250	0.31×
50	Oklahoma	$36,760	87.8	1,140	0.72×
51	Alabama	$36,670	88.8	2,160	1.10×

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 printing press operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for printing press operators

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	Harrisonburg, VA	$64,180	94.9	130	2.15×
2	Rochester, MN	$59,200	90.8	90	0.80×
3	Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA	$58,850	91.1	70	1.53×
4	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	$58,750	92.9	610	7.06×
5	Fort Smith, AR-OK	$56,350	85.9	180	2.05×
6	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$55,920	103.2	180	0.82×
7	Springfield, MA	$55,740	96.1	270	1.44×
8	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$54,230	105.7	240	1.29×
9	Worcester, MA	$53,210	102.5	210	0.64×
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$52,180	108.3	1,360	0.54×
11	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$52,040	111.1	1,410	0.73×
12	Wichita Falls, TX	$51,510	89.5	40	0.81×
13	Wausau, WI	$50,650	92.7	120	1.80×
14	Merced, CA	$50,640	98.3	90	1.23×
15	Kenosha, WI	$50,540	101.1	50	0.67×
16	Fond du Lac, WI	$50,310	91.6	70	1.82×
17	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$50,280	115.6	1,050	0.48×
18	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$50,170	104.8	3,390	1.87×
19	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$49,840	91.4	480	1.88×
20	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$49,750	103.7	50	0.42×
21	Visalia, CA	$49,680	99.8	140	0.89×
22	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$49,670	105.4	1,030	0.92×
23	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$49,620	112.6	6,700	0.76×
24	Jefferson City, MO	$49,610	88.0	130	1.71×
25	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$49,490	108.9	1,700	0.59×
26	St. Cloud, MN	$49,220	87.6	170	1.74×
27	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$49,210	105.8	1,100	0.74×
28	Bismarck, ND	$49,020	91.0	50	0.70×
29	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	$48,980	88.5	250	1.77×
30	Boulder, CO	$48,910	105.2	190	1.05×
31	Paducah, KY-IL	$48,890	86.1	40	0.86×
32	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$48,890	95.4	1,730	1.70×
33	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$48,860	99.6	340	0.81×
34	Evansville, IN	$48,770	91.5	410	3.29×
35	Reno, NV	$48,700	101.0	190	0.76×
36	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$48,660	100.9	90	0.79×
37	Lancaster, PA	$48,650	98.3	440	1.87×
38	Burlington, NC	$48,650	93.2	90	1.43×
39	Clarksville, TN-KY	$48,620	90.9	110	1.12×
40	Cape Girardeau, MO-IL	$48,610	86.1	70	1.77×

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 printing press operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Print Binding and Finishing Workers$42,290
Prepress Technicians and Workers$48,690