Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders Salary and Pay
How much do Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders make?
Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders pay a median of $40,160 a year in the BLS May 2024 survey, with a mean of $44,290 across 6,590 counted jobs. Half of all workers in the occupation earn between $36,150 and $49,150.
What Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders actually pay, from the federal wage survey: a $40,160 median, the full percentile ladder, every state's table, and the metros where the jobs and the money sit, on one page.
Updated November 5, 2026
Salary converter for this occupation
Conversions use 12 months, 26 biweekly periods, 52 weeks, and 2,080 hours. No level in this occupation's ladder reaches the BLS top code, so every figure the converter shows is a published estimate rather than a floor.
The national wage ladder (BLS OEWS, May 2024)
| Pay level | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $33,710 | $16.21 |
| 25th percentile | $36,150 | $17.38 |
| Median (50th) | $40,160 | $19.31 |
| 75th percentile | $49,150 | $23.63 |
| 90th percentile | $62,760 | $30.17 |
Percentiles answer the question a single average cannot: where would a given Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders offer sit among all 6,590 workers doing this job? The survey top-codes at $239,200+ and withholds unreliable cells, shown as n/p in the table.
Employment and concentration
BLS counted 6,590 Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders jobs in May 2024, which is 0.00% of all U.S. employment in the survey. Work is most concentrated in Mississippi, where the location quotient is 7.97, meaning the occupation holds 7.97 times its national share of local jobs. California employs the most people outright, 550 of them, and the three largest state employers together account for 21.4% of the national total.
Pay inside the occupation is wide: $29,050 separates the ends of its ladder. The 90th percentile ($62,760) is 1.9 times the 10th percentile ($33,710), a gap of $29,050 a year. The mean of $44,290 sitting above the median of $40,160 tells you the top end pulls the average up: most workers cluster below the mean, and the high tail is thin.
Pay by state
Illinois posts the highest median annual wage in the state table at $58,200, and California the largest headcount. The full table, sorted by employment:
| State | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Location quotient | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 550 | 0.0 | 0.72 | $45,720 | $40,590 |
| Georgia | 460 | 0.1 | 2.20 | $45,100 | $43,720 |
| Mississippi | 400 | 0.3 | 7.97 | $36,730 | $37,030 |
| North Carolina | 390 | 0.1 | 1.84 | $41,180 | $37,660 |
| Missouri | 340 | 0.1 | 2.76 | $46,930 | $47,780 |
| Texas | 330 | 0.0 | 0.56 | $43,180 | $34,970 |
| Arkansas | 320 | 0.2 | 5.74 | $39,540 | $36,380 |
| Iowa | 250 | 0.2 | 3.67 | $57,960 | $48,880 |
| Michigan | 210 | 0.0 | 1.12 | $50,160 | $54,360 |
| Ohio | 200 | 0.0 | 0.84 | $43,260 | $42,470 |
| Oregon | 180 | 0.1 | 2.19 | $42,330 | $38,770 |
| Alabama | 170 | 0.1 | 1.91 | $42,030 | $37,220 |
| New York | 170 | 0.0 | 0.42 | $48,980 | $44,490 |
| Kansas | 140 | 0.1 | 2.24 | $57,930 | $51,640 |
| Virginia | 140 | 0.0 | 0.82 | $40,480 | $38,460 |
| Oklahoma | 130 | 0.1 | 1.73 | $41,660 | $39,060 |
| South Carolina | 100 | 0.0 | 1.06 | $40,740 | $38,740 |
| Connecticut | 90 | 0.1 | 1.25 | $40,540 | $40,290 |
| Florida | 90 | 0.0 | 0.21 | $49,080 | $50,960 |
| Maryland | 80 | 0.0 | 0.64 | $49,510 | $47,940 |
| Kentucky | 70 | 0.0 | 0.82 | $40,560 | $39,550 |
| Nebraska | 70 | 0.1 | 1.70 | $51,560 | $46,810 |
| Colorado | 60 | 0.0 | 0.50 | $50,250 | $47,440 |
| Illinois | 60 | 0.0 | 0.25 | $55,010 | $58,200 |
| Indiana | 60 | 0.0 | 0.41 | $45,830 | $42,800 |
| South Dakota | 60 | 0.1 | 3.34 | $42,270 | $44,090 |
| Tennessee | 60 | 0.0 | 0.40 | $41,770 | $37,160 |
| Washington | 60 | 0.0 | 0.39 | $48,540 | $47,950 |
| New Jersey | 50 | 0.0 | 0.30 | $54,840 | $50,790 |
| Massachusetts | 40 | 0.0 | 0.29 | $50,890 | $41,560 |
| Minnesota | 40 | 0.0 | 0.31 | $45,760 | $43,520 |
| Nevada | 30 | 0.0 | 0.51 | $42,450 | $42,390 |
| Hawaii | n/p | n/p | n/p | $37,960 | $37,820 |
| Pennsylvania | n/p | n/p | n/p | $39,310 | $35,460 |
The occupation in context
Ranked against all 826 published occupations, Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders stands number 733 by employment and number 701 by median pay. Inside its own major group, Production Occupations, the group median wage is $46,020 across 105 detailed occupations, so this occupation pays 13% less than its group median, and it supplies 0.1% of the group's 8,743,430 jobs. In 21 of the 34 states with a published median, the state median beats the national median of $40,160, which is the single best quick test of whether this occupation's pay is set nationally or locally: a high count means local markets regularly outbid the national figure.
Metropolitan areas: where the jobs and the pay sit
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA is the largest metro employer with 170 jobs, 2.6% of the national total. Two rankings follow across the 15 metros BLS publishes for this occupation: where the jobs are, then where the money is, with the pay ranking restricted to metros employing at least 500 people in this occupation to keep small samples out of the lead.
Largest metro employers
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 170 | $45,280 | $45,760 |
| Jackson, MS | 130 | $39,740 | $37,000 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 130 | $41,620 | $38,480 |
| Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR | 100 | $40,200 | $36,900 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | 100 | $47,760 | $49,010 |
| Urban Honolulu, HI | 100 | $37,350 | $35,480 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | 90 | $44,820 | $40,130 |
| Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | 70 | $54,410 | $47,020 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 60 | $48,620 | $47,940 |
| Lancaster, PA | 50 | $48,360 | $52,660 |
What the median pay looks like as a budget
As a household number, $40,160 a year is $3,347 a month gross, $1,545 every two weeks, $772 a week. Moving from the 25th percentile ($36,150) to the 75th ($49,150) is worth $13,000 a year, which is the realistic size of the experience and specialization premium inside this occupation. The next step from a gross figure is a net one: run the $3,347 monthly figure through the paycheck calculator applies your state's taxes, the salary calculator compares two offers in any unit, and the raise vs inflation calculator tells you whether a nominal raise is a real one.
To place a real offer: a salary of $44,176 would sit between the median ($40,160) and the 75th percentile ($49,150), inside the top half but outside the top quarter of this occupation's ladder. An offer at the 25th percentile, $36,150, is $4,010 under the median, the typical size of the discount attached to entry-level or low-cost-market postings in this field.
Related occupations in Production Occupations
Pay for the neighboring roles in the same BLS major group: Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders, Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials, Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers, Prepress Technicians and Workers, Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, Upholsterers. The full directory is on the Careers hub.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average salary for Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders?
BLS publishes both centers: the mean annual wage is $44,290 and the median is $40,160 (May 2024). The median is usually the better answer to what a typical worker makes, because the mean is pulled by the highest earners.
Where do Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders earn the most?
At state level, Illinois posts the highest median at $58,200. At metro level, BLS publishes no metro estimates for this occupation.
How many Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders jobs are there?
6,590 nationally in May 2024. The biggest metro employer is Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA with 170 jobs.
Is $40,160 a good salary for Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders?
It is the exact middle of the occupation: half of the 6,590 counted workers earn more, half earn less. Against the occupation's own ladder, an offer above $49,150 is a top-quartile offer and one below $36,150 is a bottom-quartile one.