Etchers and Engravers salary

SOC 51-9194 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$43,310

per year, nationally

Middle half

$37,400–$53,050

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

7,750

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-0.7%

900 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.

$32,210$63,360

10th: $32,210
25th: $37,400
Median: $43,310
75th: $53,050
90th: $63,360

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 etchers and engravers 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	Vermont	$65,380	98.0	40	2.90×
2	Rhode Island	$63,250	102.3	30	1.35×
3	Arizona	$59,940	100.7	—	—
4	New Jersey	$58,000	108.8	60	0.30×
5	Maryland	$53,680	105.0	110	0.81×
6	Kansas	$52,000	90.1	40	0.60×
7	New York	$51,540	107.9	520	1.08×
8	Massachusetts	$50,710	105.8	320	1.77×
9	Ohio	$50,430	92.8	320	1.14×
10	Wisconsin	$50,290	94.1	390	2.65×
11	Pennsylvania	$47,790	97.6	260	0.87×
12	Maine	$47,520	97.0	70	2.26×
13	Arkansas	$46,780	86.9	180	2.76×
14	California	$46,480	110.7	1,040	1.15×
15	Minnesota	$46,280	98.6	210	1.40×
16	Connecticut	$45,050	103.6	140	1.69×
17	Indiana	$44,360	93.3	170	1.08×
18	Washington	$43,680	107.0	160	0.90×
19	Illinois	$43,450	100.0	330	1.09×
20	Michigan	$43,180	96.2	390	1.75×
21	Iowa	$42,950	87.8	70	0.95×
22	Idaho	$42,640	95.5	50	1.12×
23	Florida	$42,110	103.4	200	0.40×
24	Colorado	$40,800	103.1	50	0.33×
25	South Dakota	$40,590	88.6	60	2.47×
26	Georgia	$40,190	96.3	60	0.24×
27	Virginia	$39,360	101.1	160	0.80×
28	North Carolina	$39,270	94.3	—	—
29	Tennessee	$38,230	91.9	300	1.84×
30	Missouri	$37,990	90.8	80	0.56×
31	Oregon	$37,780	103.4	220	2.26×
32	Kentucky	$36,540	90.2	250	2.55×
33	Oklahoma	$35,890	87.8	110	1.26×
34	Louisiana	$32,880	88.2	40	0.38×
35	Texas	$31,180	97.1	630	0.90×
36	Alabama	$31,030	88.8	60	0.59×
37	South Carolina	$28,300	93.7	50	0.45×

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 etchers and engravers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for etchers and engravers

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	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$64,630	103.3	—	—
2	Columbus, OH	$63,860	95.5	—	—
3	Cleveland, OH	$62,580	93.9	—	—
4	Green Bay, WI	$60,720	93.1	—	—
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$58,020	112.6	430	0.92×
6	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$57,770	104.5	90	1.35×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$56,470	110.4	130	2.32×
8	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$52,980	102.6	90	0.59×
9	Springfield, MA	$51,000	96.1	40	3.61×
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$50,810	106.7	30	0.63×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$50,710	108.3	230	1.68×
12	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$49,800	96.9	100	2.34×
13	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$48,800	101.8	80	2.31×
14	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$48,190	115.6	80	0.64×
15	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$47,880	92.2	50	1.49×
16	Rochester, NY	$47,380	97.0	40	1.60×
17	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$46,970	108.9	40	0.23×
18	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$46,280	104.8	110	1.15×
19	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$46,180	106.9	40	1.84×
20	Madison, WI	$46,170	97.3	70	3.53×
21	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$45,520	113.6	500	1.61×
22	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$45,250	111.1	110	1.02×
23	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$45,050	102.7	60	2.14×
24	Pittsburgh, PA	$44,110	94.7	40	0.80×
25	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$43,880	103.6	240	1.08×
26	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$43,310	100.3	100	1.04×
27	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$43,070	114.2	—	—
28	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$42,960	95.7	50	0.85×
29	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$42,310	111.9	60	0.79×
30	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$41,790	95.5	60	2.12×
31	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$41,710	110.5	30	2.17×
32	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$41,630	97.9	50	1.30×
33	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$41,600	97.3	70	1.02×
34	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$41,530	106.4	70	0.82×
35	St. Louis, MO-IL	$39,870	95.1	50	0.70×
36	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$39,600	98.6	—	—
37	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$37,780	105.4	170	2.86×
38	Tulsa, OK	$37,660	89.2	40	1.87×
39	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$37,310	100.9	50	0.71×
40	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$36,960	95.4	110	2.03×

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 etchers and engravers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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