Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders salary

SOC 51-9012 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$51,610

per year, nationally

Middle half

$44,410–$63,930

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

60,100

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-4.3%

5,400 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.

$36,200$79,750

10th: $36,200
25th: $44,410
Median: $51,610
75th: $63,930
90th: $79,750

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 separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders 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	Wyoming	$108,900	92.7	410	3.82×
2	Nevada	$62,960	100.0	270	0.46×
3	New Hampshire	$60,340	104.2	590	2.25×
4	Wisconsin	$60,100	94.1	1,520	1.34×
5	Virginia	$59,480	101.1	2,130	1.34×
6	North Dakota	$59,390	89.0	270	1.60×
7	Kentucky	$58,770	90.2	1,500	1.94×
8	Louisiana	$58,640	88.2	770	1.03×
9	New Jersey	$58,140	108.8	930	0.56×
10	Arizona	$57,820	100.7	970	0.77×
11	Minnesota	$57,190	98.6	1,810	1.59×
12	Maine	$57,190	97.0	430	1.75×
13	Washington	$56,160	107.0	1,560	1.14×
14	New York	$55,990	107.9	3,490	0.93×
15	Maryland	$55,580	105.0	580	0.54×
16	Georgia	$55,500	96.3	1,210	0.64×
17	Indiana	$53,990	93.3	1,510	1.22×
18	Vermont	$53,570	98.0	230	1.92×
19	California	$52,910	110.7	14,210	2.02×
20	Iowa	$52,220	87.8	1,090	1.81×
21	Idaho	$52,160	95.5	780	2.35×
22	Hawaii	$51,070	110.0	160	0.66×
23	South Dakota	$50,780	88.6	270	1.55×
24	Tennessee	$50,470	91.9	2,450	1.94×
25	Connecticut	$50,370	103.6	310	0.47×
26	Oregon	$50,160	103.4	1,340	1.76×
27	Florida	$49,610	103.4	1,150	0.30×
28	Colorado	$49,590	103.1	1,970	1.77×
29	Michigan	$49,480	96.2	2,230	1.31×
30	Oklahoma	$49,440	87.8	260	0.39×
31	South Carolina	$49,320	93.7	470	0.52×
32	Missouri	$49,290	90.8	1,590	1.40×
33	North Carolina	$49,140	94.3	1,310	0.68×
34	Massachusetts	$48,970	105.8	510	0.37×
35	Kansas	$48,790	90.1	450	0.81×
36	Illinois	$48,440	100.0	780	0.33×
37	Pennsylvania	$48,390	97.6	2,150	0.92×
38	Alaska	$48,000	102.4	100	0.78×
39	Montana	$47,920	94.6	340	1.74×
40	Ohio	$47,640	92.8	1,470	0.69×
41	Delaware	$47,520	99.8	110	0.61×
42	Nebraska	$47,080	90.1	1,050	2.66×
43	Alabama	$46,970	88.8	140	0.17×
44	Texas	$46,910	97.1	1,460	0.27×
45	Rhode Island	$46,710	102.3	140	0.72×
46	Utah	$46,600	98.9	480	0.72×
47	Mississippi	$43,890	87.0	100	0.21×
48	Arkansas	$41,720	86.9	500	0.98×
49	New Mexico	$41,370	92.2	370	1.11×
50	West Virginia	$35,870	89.5	110	0.41×

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 separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

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	Syracuse, NY	$82,530	95.7	520	4.50×
2	Vallejo, CA	$82,440	108.5	240	4.30×
3	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$80,140	100.1	640	0.57×
4	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$76,350	97.9	530	1.79×
5	Modesto, CA	$73,690	104.1	1,000	13.30×
6	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$66,310	101.6	220	11.50×
7	Napa, CA	$64,000	112.6	1,400	46.40×
8	Owensboro, KY	$63,700	88.6	60	3.11×
9	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$62,320	115.6	730	0.79×
10	Merced, CA	$61,920	98.3	270	8.68×
11	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$61,550	107.8	970	12.28×
12	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$61,300	111.9	690	1.15×
13	Savannah, GA	$60,710	95.2	60	0.72×
14	Oklahoma City, OK	$60,480	90.4	140	0.55×
15	Fargo, ND-MN	$60,320	90.9	70	1.16×
16	Rochester, MN	$59,970	90.8	40	0.94×
17	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$59,690	112.6	1,140	0.31×
18	Greeley, CO	$59,670	100.2	110	2.30×
19	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$59,610	100.0	230	1.61×
20	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$59,600	100.3	120	1.21×
21	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$59,220	93.1	750	2.83×
22	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$59,100	92.6	160	0.91×
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$59,080	108.3	760	0.73×
24	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$59,020	106.9	50	0.31×
25	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$58,970	103.3	740	0.81×
26	Portland-South Portland, ME	$58,580	101.9	240	2.16×
27	Visalia, CA	$58,490	99.8	300	4.46×
28	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$58,430	111.1	680	0.84×
29	Joplin, MO-KS	$58,170	85.7	160	4.70×
30	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$57,900	108.9	620	0.51×
31	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$57,890	95.7	670	1.56×
32	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$57,700	104.8	790	1.04×
33	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$57,400	100.1	140	2.72×
34	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$57,060	100.9	190	0.61×
35	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$56,910	110.4	250	0.56×
36	Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	$56,850	86.5	30	1.09×
37	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$56,790	95.4	510	1.20×
38	Bozeman, MT	$56,560	102.5	80	2.77×
39	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	$56,490	95.0	120	1.41×
40	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$56,370	104.5	280	0.53×

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 separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders earn the most

Best paying metro areas for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

Similar occupations

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