Pay · 51-9021

Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders earn $48,540 a year at the midpoint

The middle of the pay scale for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders is $48,540. A typical start is nearer $40,430; the top tenth earn about $69,240.

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$48,540median a year · United States

$23.34an hour $51,380average 26,000people

Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.

$40,43025th $48,540median $60,04075th

$36,52010th percentile $69,24090th percentile

$40,430a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job

$71,300best-paying state · Wyoming

$37,420lowest-paying state · Mississippi

+47%top state against the national median

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.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $71,300 in Wyoming and $37,420 in Mississippi — a gap of $33,880 a year.

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operator earnings, from starting pay to the top 10%

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Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operator 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.

Per hour Hours a week Weeks a year

$48,547a year

A resume for crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders

Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.

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Observed operation of equipment to ensure continuity of flow, safety, and efficient operation, and to detect malfunctions.
Cleaned, adjusted, and maintained equipment, using hand tools.
Tended accessory equipment, such as pumps and conveyors, to move materials or ingredients through production processes.

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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.

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operator wages, state by state

The 38 states where the most people do this work, of 47 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.86 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State	Median a year	Where most start	10th to 90th	Employed
Wyoming	$71,300	$50,350	$50,350 — $110,270	170
Iowa	$62,590	$44,840	$44,840 — $64,780	1,420
Nevada	$60,180	$38,040	$38,040 — $83,390	660
Montana	$60,110	$34,630	$34,630 — $66,250	260
Nebraska	$58,920	$45,160	$45,160 — $78,830	270
New York	$58,090	$42,610	$42,610 — $74,310	950
Minnesota	$56,550	$45,500	$45,500 — $81,800	660
Oregon	$55,600	$39,750	$39,750 — $76,040	490
Wisconsin	$54,580	$45,150	$45,150 — $72,540	530
Connecticut	$53,130	$37,440	$37,440 — $68,890	200
Pennsylvania	$52,560	$42,930	$42,930 — $66,080	980
Alabama	$51,920	$24,230	$24,230 — $77,090	610
Utah	$51,770	$40,590	$40,590 — $99,360	260
Idaho	$51,500	$40,040	$40,040 — $65,070	370
Indiana	$51,150	$37,190	$37,190 — $70,200	920
Massachusetts	$50,110	$43,110	$43,110 — $62,640	370
North Dakota	$49,280	$36,260	$36,260 — $73,920	310
Missouri	$48,840	$36,310	$36,310 — $67,680	750
Kansas	$48,570	$33,330	$33,330 — $68,450	470
Illinois	$48,290	$34,630	$34,630 — $72,710	710
Washington	$48,020	$39,550	$39,550 — $79,340	470
Colorado	$46,950	$39,210	$39,210 — $64,590	520
Florida	$46,950	$36,520	$36,520 — $69,100	520
New Jersey	$46,690	$35,600	$35,600 — $66,500	560
Michigan	$46,500	$36,120	$36,120 — $68,490	670
North Carolina	$46,270	$35,970	$35,970 — $61,790	560
Georgia	$45,920	$36,080	$36,080 — $70,200	800
California	$45,870	$37,340	$37,340 — $72,580	2,370
New Mexico	$45,760	$34,750	$34,750 — $59,670	170
Virginia	$45,560	$31,940	$31,940 — $61,750	530
South Carolina	$45,280	$34,350	$34,350 — $63,490	330
Texas	$45,090	$32,760	$32,760 — $58,260	1,440
Louisiana	$44,900	$28,690	$28,690 — $59,500	200
Ohio	$43,850	$35,910	$35,910 — $64,110	1,590
Tennessee	$42,950	$35,760	$35,760 — $57,800	1,290
Kentucky	$42,520	$34,340	$34,340 — $60,280	200
Arkansas	$38,910	$32,470	$32,470 — $50,540	520
Oklahoma	$38,380	$33,880	$33,880 — $63,520	390

No. 554 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 30% of the occupations in the survey.

552 Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers $48,570
553 First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services $48,560
554 Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders $48,540
555 First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers $48,520
556 Billing and Posting Clerks $48,500

What people often ask

What is a crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operator’s yearly income?

A crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operator makes a median of $48,540 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $40,430 and $60,040.

What is a crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operator’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $23.34 an hour; the average is $51,380 a year.

What is the starting pay for a crushing, grinding, and polishing machine operator?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $40,430 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $36,520.

Which state pays crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders the most?

Wyoming, with a median of $71,300 a year.

How many people work as crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders?

About 26,000 in the United States — number 554 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Jobs that pay about the same

Median pay within $30 of what crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders earn — $48,540 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations