Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary and Pay
How much do Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make?
Median pay for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is $49,240 a year ($23.67); the mean is $50,900. The occupation employed 8,760 people in May 2024, and its middle band runs from $41,350 to $59,270.
The complete pay picture for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic: 8,760 jobs nationally, a median of $49,240, and the state and metro tables that show where that median is beaten and where it is not.
Updated November 5, 2026
Salary converter for this occupation
Every level in the picker is a published BLS figure for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, not a national average. Annual-to-hourly conversions divide by 2,080 hours, the survey's full-time year; top-coded levels use $239,200, the floor BLS prints, so the true figure is higher.
The national wage ladder (BLS OEWS, May 2024)
| Pay level | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $35,150 | $16.90 |
| 25th percentile | $41,350 | $19.88 |
| Median (50th) | $49,240 | $23.67 |
| 75th percentile | $59,270 | $28.50 |
| 90th percentile | $69,540 | $33.43 |
A percentile marks a point in this occupation's pay distribution: the worker one quarter of the way up the Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic ladder earns the 25th percentile wage, $41,350. BLS top-codes very high wages ($239,200+ a year, $115.00+ an hour) and marks estimates it cannot publish as n/p.
Employment and concentration
BLS counted 8,760 Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic jobs in May 2024, which is 0.01% of all U.S. employment in the survey. Work is most concentrated in Kentucky, where the location quotient is 7.62, meaning the occupation holds 7.62 times its national share of local jobs. Kentucky employs the most people outright, 860 of them, and the three largest state employers together account for 26.5% of the national total.
Pay inside the occupation is wide: $34,390 separates the ends of its ladder. The 90th percentile ($69,540) is 2.0 times the 10th percentile ($35,150), a gap of $34,390 a year. The mean of $50,900 sitting above the median of $49,240 tells you the top end pulls the average up: most workers cluster below the mean, and the high tail is thin.
Pay by state
Every state with a publishable estimate is in this table, 31 of them, sorted by jobs. The pay leader by median is New Jersey at $63,630; the jobs leader is Kentucky:
| State | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Location quotient | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 860 | 0.4 | 7.62 | $59,600 | $59,700 |
| Michigan | 780 | 0.2 | 3.12 | $52,300 | $50,950 |
| Ohio | 680 | 0.1 | 2.17 | $53,020 | $50,200 |
| Tennessee | 660 | 0.2 | 3.53 | $39,970 | $36,000 |
| Texas | 610 | 0.0 | 0.78 | $39,890 | $36,910 |
| Pennsylvania | 530 | 0.1 | 1.55 | $52,990 | $49,590 |
| California | 480 | 0.0 | 0.47 | $59,120 | $57,620 |
| Illinois | 320 | 0.1 | 0.92 | $48,540 | $47,540 |
| Virginia | 310 | 0.1 | 1.34 | $51,730 | $53,050 |
| Indiana | 280 | 0.1 | 1.55 | $48,000 | $46,460 |
| Massachusetts | 250 | 0.1 | 1.22 | $64,600 | $60,540 |
| Connecticut | 220 | 0.1 | 2.26 | $43,150 | $44,000 |
| Georgia | 210 | 0.0 | 0.76 | $44,690 | $42,120 |
| Nebraska | 190 | 0.2 | 3.36 | $59,530 | $58,560 |
| Arkansas | 180 | 0.1 | 2.51 | $46,950 | $51,520 |
| Colorado | 170 | 0.1 | 1.02 | $54,220 | $55,990 |
| New York | 160 | 0.0 | 0.30 | $54,080 | $53,140 |
| Florida | 150 | 0.0 | 0.27 | $41,020 | $39,210 |
| Kansas | 130 | 0.1 | 1.58 | $50,580 | $50,900 |
| South Carolina | 130 | 0.1 | 1.02 | $48,240 | $48,320 |
| Missouri | 100 | 0.0 | 0.60 | $46,710 | $48,010 |
| New Jersey | 90 | 0.0 | 0.37 | $59,480 | $63,630 |
| Mississippi | 80 | 0.1 | 1.25 | $35,870 | $36,940 |
| Wisconsin | 80 | 0.0 | 0.50 | $52,800 | $51,760 |
| Nevada | 40 | 0.0 | 0.40 | $48,870 | $49,920 |
| South Dakota | 40 | 0.1 | 1.63 | $46,460 | $45,430 |
| Alabama | n/p | n/p | n/p | $51,600 | $46,640 |
| Iowa | n/p | n/p | n/p | $46,080 | $45,420 |
| Maine | n/p | n/p | n/p | $43,460 | $41,530 |
| Oklahoma | n/p | n/p | n/p | $54,870 | $56,030 |
| Oregon | n/p | n/p | n/p | $63,320 | $52,040 |
The occupation in context
Ranked against all 826 published occupations, Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic stands number 701 by employment and number 536 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 7% more than its group median, and it supplies 0.1% of the group's 8,743,430 jobs. In 17 of the 31 states with a published median, the state median beats the national median of $49,240, 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
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI is the largest metro employer with 330 jobs, 3.8% of the national total. The first table ranks metros by employment; the second ranks them by mean pay among metros with at least 500 jobs in the occupation, because a three-person metro can top a pay table by accident.
Largest metro employers
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 330 | $53,890 | $56,690 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 300 | $58,510 | $57,150 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 190 | $62,170 | $62,590 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 150 | $50,690 | $48,090 |
| Cleveland, OH | 150 | $55,530 | $50,200 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 150 | $52,450 | $53,350 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 130 | $53,230 | $49,560 |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 110 | $43,850 | $38,220 |
| Lansing-East Lansing, MI | 100 | $56,090 | $51,770 |
| Columbus, OH | 90 | $53,180 | $53,230 |
What the median pay looks like as a budget
The median Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic paycheck, gross, is $1,894 every two weeks on an annual $49,240, which is $4,103 a month and $947 a week. Moving from the 25th percentile ($41,350) to the 75th ($59,270) is worth $17,920 a year, which is the realistic size of the experience and specialization premium inside this occupation. Gross is a starting point, not a budget: the paycheck calculator nets it down by state, an offer comparison lives in the salary calculator, and the raise vs inflation calculator separates a real raise from a nominal one.
To place a real offer: a salary of $54,164 would sit between the median ($49,240) and the 75th percentile ($59,270), inside the top half but outside the top quarter of this occupation's ladder. An offer at the 25th percentile, $41,350, is $7,890 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
Sibling occupations in Production Occupations: Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders, Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other, Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders, Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians, Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators. Medians there are computed identically, so the comparison is apples to apples; the full set lives on the Careers hub.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average salary for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?
BLS publishes both centers: the mean annual wage is $50,900 and the median is $49,240 (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 Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic earn the most?
At state level, New Jersey posts the highest median at $63,630. At metro level, BLS publishes no metro estimates for this occupation.
How many Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic jobs are there?
8,760 nationally in May 2024. The biggest metro employer is Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI with 330 jobs.
Is $49,240 a good salary for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?
It is the exact middle of the occupation: half of the 8,760 counted workers earn more, half earn less. Against the occupation's own ladder, an offer above $59,270 is a top-quartile offer and one below $41,350 is a bottom-quartile one.