Pay · 51-9031
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand earn $38,020 a year at the midpoint
Starting pay is close to the middle here: the 25th percentile is $34,050 against a median of $38,020, so the first years are not a long climb.
National figures for cutters and trimmers, hand, 51-9031, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Hand cutter and trimmer earnings, from starting pay to the best-paid 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
A resume for cutters and trimmers, hand
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Marked or discarded items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes.
- Trimmed excess material or cut threads off finished products, such as cutting loose ends of plastic off a manufactured toy for a smoother finish.
- Cut, shaped, and trimmed materials, such as textiles, food, glass, stone, and metal, using knives, scissors, and other hand tools, portable power tools, or bench-mounted tools.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
No. 722 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 8% of the occupations in the survey.
- 720 Crossing Guards and Flaggers $38,100
- 721 Security guards $38,020
- 722 Cutters and Trimmers, Hand $38,020
- 723 Receptionists and information clerks $38,010
- 724 Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers $37,800
Hand cutter and trimmer wages in each state
The 22 states where the most people do this work, of 30 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.81 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | $48,830 | $34,040 | $34,040 — $58,060 | 60 |
| Rhode Island | $48,100 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $48,100 | 50 |
| North Carolina | $47,910 | $33,330 | $33,330 — $60,070 | 1,060 |
| Michigan | $46,830 | $34,470 | $34,470 — $49,280 | 50 |
| New York | $46,190 | $33,790 | $33,790 — $63,650 | 220 |
| Indiana | $41,740 | $22,260 | $22,260 — $58,430 | 360 |
| Missouri | $40,560 | $35,230 | $35,230 — $50,510 | 110 |
| Massachusetts | $39,970 | $32,210 | $32,210 — $58,400 | 110 |
| South Carolina | $39,340 | $28,990 | $28,990 — $61,570 | 50 |
| Wisconsin | $39,010 | $31,280 | $31,280 — $44,700 | 60 |
| Kansas | $38,800 | $34,360 | $34,360 — $45,670 | 130 |
| California | $37,840 | $34,710 | $34,710 — $61,190 | 770 |
| Georgia | $37,480 | $22,920 | $22,920 — $87,150 | 290 |
| Mississippi | $37,280 | $30,670 | $30,670 — $45,130 | 90 |
| Connecticut | $35,970 | $35,970 | $35,970 — $49,260 | 50 |
| Pennsylvania | $35,560 | $26,280 | $26,280 — $44,160 | 140 |
| Ohio | $35,360 | $23,190 | $23,190 — $48,250 | 120 |
| Florida | $35,150 | $27,040 | $27,040 — $78,920 | 150 |
| New Jersey | $34,600 | $32,220 | $32,220 — $51,520 | 380 |
| Virginia | $32,470 | $29,430 | $29,430 — $42,830 | 60 |
| Texas | $29,130 | $24,410 | $24,410 — $37,790 | 740 |
| Tennessee | $27,030 | $19,120 | $19,120 — $45,560 | 230 |
Hand cutter and trimmer pay rate, hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of job.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Questions people ask most
What is a hand cutter and trimmer’s yearly income?
A hand cutter and trimmer makes a median of $38,020 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $34,050 and $47,850.
What is a hand cutter and trimmer’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $18.28 an hour; the average is $41,050 a year.
What is the starting pay for a hand cutter and trimmer?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $34,050 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $26,630.
Which state pays cutters and trimmers, hand the most?
Nebraska, with a median of $48,830 a year.
How many people work as cutters and trimmers, hand?
About 6,060 in the United States — number 722 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $120 of what cutters and trimmers, hand earn — $38,020 a year — but not always the same spread.
- Same median Security guards $38,020median a year 10th percentile: $30,210 90th percentile: $58,840
- $10 less Receptionists and information clerks $38,010median a year 10th percentile: $28,760 90th percentile: $49,950
- $120 more Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education $38,140median a year 10th percentile: $28,990 90th percentile: $61,390