Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic salary

SOC 51-9195 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$46,170

per year, nationally

Middle half

$39,280–$53,000

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

33,190

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+6.2%

5,500 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.

$35,850$61,530

10th: $35,850
25th: $39,280
Median: $46,170
75th: $53,000
90th: $61,530

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

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

Where molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic 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	Montana	$57,860	94.6	150	1.38×
2	Hawaii	$55,990	110.0	40	0.29×
3	Oregon	$52,740	103.4	410	0.97×
4	Connecticut	$52,520	103.6	170	0.47×
5	Washington	$51,780	107.0	1,130	1.49×
6	New Hampshire	$51,470	104.2	160	1.13×
7	Massachusetts	$50,550	105.8	1,200	1.55×
8	Maryland	$50,360	105.0	110	0.18×
9	Colorado	$49,530	103.1	390	0.63×
10	California	$49,190	110.7	3,590	0.92×
11	Arizona	$49,060	100.7	470	0.68×
12	Vermont	$48,660	98.0	240	3.66×
13	Maine	$48,640	97.0	120	0.88×
14	Wisconsin	$48,030	94.1	550	0.88×
15	Delaware	$47,940	99.8	90	0.84×
16	Rhode Island	$47,610	102.3	—	—
17	New Jersey	$47,360	108.8	620	0.68×
18	Kansas	$47,360	90.1	680	2.23×
19	Illinois	$47,180	100.0	1,230	0.95×
20	Georgia	$47,160	96.3	760	0.73×
21	New Mexico	$46,970	92.2	—	—
22	Louisiana	$46,870	88.2	100	0.25×
23	Oklahoma	$46,460	87.8	220	0.60×
24	Indiana	$46,400	93.3	1,520	2.23×
25	Missouri	$46,380	90.8	690	1.10×
26	Nebraska	$46,220	90.1	240	1.08×
27	Iowa	$46,220	87.8	340	1.03×
28	North Dakota	$46,170	89.0	60	0.61×
29	South Carolina	$46,110	93.7	550	1.12×
30	New York	$45,940	107.9	1,150	0.56×
31	Tennessee	$45,860	91.9	880	1.26×
32	Minnesota	$45,790	98.6	900	1.43×
33	Virginia	$45,410	101.1	720	0.82×
34	Pennsylvania	$45,310	97.6	1,690	1.30×
35	Michigan	$45,250	96.2	1,470	1.56×
36	Florida	$45,030	103.4	2,410	1.14×
37	Nevada	$45,020	100.0	430	1.28×
38	Ohio	$44,560	92.8	1,560	1.32×
39	Utah	$43,440	98.9	710	1.92×
40	West Virginia	$43,300	89.5	260	1.73×
41	Idaho	$42,620	95.5	210	1.13×
42	Kentucky	$41,590	90.2	370	0.86×
43	Texas	$40,010	97.1	2,550	0.85×
44	North Carolina	$38,190	94.3	550	0.53×
45	Mississippi	$37,580	87.0	210	0.86×
46	Wyoming	$37,510	92.7	80	1.32×
47	Alabama	$36,730	88.8	820	1.83×
48	Arkansas	$35,620	86.9	190	0.69×

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 molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

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	Vineland, NJ	$68,490	96.0	150	11.42×
2	Bozeman, MT	$61,010	102.5	50	3.20×
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$60,130	110.4	130	0.55×
4	Modesto, CA	$59,990	104.1	70	1.79×
5	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$59,320	92.6	40	0.42×
6	Colorado Springs, CO	$58,570	100.7	40	0.53×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$57,300	115.6	400	0.79×
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$56,770	111.1	660	1.48×
9	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$56,320	107.8	80	1.77×
10	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$56,110	100.3	100	1.79×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$55,530	108.3	500	0.87×
12	Worcester, MA	$54,920	102.5	220	2.92×
13	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$54,500	99.6	50	0.50×
14	Bend, OR	$54,410	103.6	40	1.63×
15	Joplin, MO-KS	$52,560	85.7	70	3.72×
16	Salem, OR	$52,220	103.6	50	1.34×
17	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$52,090	108.8	40	0.87×
18	Wausau, WI	$51,980	92.7	—	—
19	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$51,470	105.7	50	1.18×
20	Salinas, CA	$51,320	109.0	40	1.01×
21	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	$51,110	89.1	30	0.87×
22	Rochester, NY	$50,740	97.0	50	0.48×
23	Greeley, CO	$50,520	100.2	80	3.03×
24	Kansas City, MO-KS	$50,370	92.5	370	1.58×
25	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$50,180	105.4	280	1.08×
26	New Haven, CT	$50,110	104.6	30	0.51×
27	Portland-South Portland, ME	$49,880	101.9	40	0.69×
28	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$49,860	101.6	40	1.16×
29	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$49,840	100.9	50	0.64×
30	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$49,720	91.9	170	3.45×
31	Madison, WI	$49,700	97.3	40	0.42×
32	Spartanburg, SC	$49,550	91.1	90	2.49×
33	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$49,530	105.8	180	0.52×
34	Fresno, CA	$49,500	102.2	120	1.17×
35	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	$49,500	94.2	50	2.02×
36	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$49,300	106.7	280	1.21×
37	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$49,110	95.4	160	0.70×
38	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$49,080	103.3	390	0.77×
39	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$49,020	104.5	40	0.13×
40	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$48,890	95.8	100	0.85×

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 molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic earn the most

Best paying metro areas for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

Similar occupations

Compare