Pay · 51-9111
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders earn $43,220 a year at the midpoint
Pay is unusually even: nine in ten people earn between $33,390 and $60,030, around a midpoint of $43,220.
National figures for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, 51-9111, 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.”
Packaging and filling machine operator earnings, from starting pay to the top 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.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
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 →
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
- Packaging Machine Operator Resume Template Production
- Painting and Coating Worker Resume Template Production
- Coating and Painting Machine Operator Resume Template Production
- Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician Resume Template Production
- Medical Appliance Technician Resume Template Production
- Dental Laboratory Technician Resume Template Production
- Semiconductor Processing Technician Resume Template Production
- Jeweler Resume Template Production
- Photographic Process Technician Resume Template Production
- Quality Control Inspector Resume Template Production
- Furnace and Kiln Operator Resume Template Production
- Extruding Machine Operator Resume Template Production
Ranked 656 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 17% of the occupations in the survey.
- 654 Tutors $43,350
- 655 Etchers and Engravers $43,310
- 656 Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders $43,220
- 657 Tellers $43,030
- 658 Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary $42,910
Packaging and filling machine operator wages in each state
The 39 states where the most people do this work, of 50 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.35 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri | $48,070 | $36,180 | $36,180 — $61,310 | 12,620 |
| Maine | $47,970 | $36,560 | $36,560 — $58,750 | 1,490 |
| Idaho | $46,720 | $35,250 | $35,250 — $60,330 | 3,950 |
| Nebraska | $46,220 | $35,450 | $35,450 — $59,560 | 4,410 |
| Wisconsin | $46,220 | $35,760 | $35,760 — $57,490 | 16,150 |
| Colorado | $46,010 | $35,270 | $35,270 — $73,980 | 4,760 |
| Iowa | $45,660 | $37,040 | $37,040 — $63,230 | 6,990 |
| Kentucky | $45,450 | $35,250 | $35,250 — $61,250 | 8,640 |
| Oregon | $45,180 | $35,730 | $35,730 — $59,740 | 5,370 |
| Virginia | $44,950 | $31,880 | $31,880 — $63,420 | 6,150 |
| Kansas | $44,890 | $31,150 | $31,150 — $57,740 | 7,920 |
| Indiana | $44,600 | $33,330 | $33,330 — $59,070 | 12,880 |
| Pennsylvania | $44,480 | $31,780 | $31,780 — $62,050 | 19,340 |
| California | $44,020 | $35,750 | $35,750 — $61,780 | 43,430 |
| Utah | $43,780 | $35,040 | $35,040 — $60,030 | 6,350 |
| Maryland | $43,670 | $35,270 | $35,270 — $69,620 | 3,030 |
| Ohio | $43,310 | $33,780 | $33,780 — $61,180 | 17,850 |
| Tennessee | $43,190 | $33,050 | $33,050 — $62,810 | 7,400 |
| Illinois | $43,150 | $34,880 | $34,880 — $60,050 | 29,400 |
| Georgia | $42,920 | $30,020 | $30,020 — $62,150 | 11,380 |
| Washington | $41,700 | $36,310 | $36,310 — $57,250 | 8,450 |
| Michigan | $41,690 | $31,890 | $31,890 — $59,370 | 10,940 |
| North Carolina | $41,150 | $31,140 | $31,140 — $59,220 | 11,870 |
| Minnesota | $40,960 | $36,280 | $36,280 — $55,420 | 7,340 |
| Arizona | $40,560 | $35,360 | $35,360 — $60,770 | 7,090 |
| Massachusetts | $40,360 | $33,550 | $33,550 — $55,470 | 5,020 |
| New Jersey | $40,280 | $32,230 | $32,230 — $59,800 | 9,810 |
| South Carolina | $40,010 | $32,880 | $32,880 — $51,080 | 4,890 |
| Connecticut | $39,460 | $35,060 | $35,060 — $61,150 | 1,540 |
| New York | $39,330 | $34,200 | $34,200 — $59,540 | 18,150 |
| Oklahoma | $39,310 | $31,180 | $31,180 — $48,710 | 3,150 |
| Texas | $38,950 | $28,990 | $28,990 — $57,190 | 22,970 |
| Louisiana | $38,370 | $25,370 | $25,370 — $55,640 | 1,910 |
| Alabama | $37,820 | $28,210 | $28,210 — $54,770 | 3,240 |
| Arkansas | $37,740 | $31,170 | $31,170 — $49,270 | 4,630 |
| Mississippi | $37,720 | $27,320 | $27,320 — $46,960 | 3,030 |
| Nevada | $37,440 | $27,290 | $27,290 — $57,500 | 2,700 |
| Florida | $37,170 | $29,040 | $29,040 — $50,800 | 14,010 |
| New Mexico | $35,640 | $30,480 | $30,480 — $47,280 | 1,550 |
Packaging and filling machine operator pay rate, hourly and yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
A resume for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Attached identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.
- Sorted, graded, weighed, and inspected products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
- Stopped or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
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.
Questions people often ask
What is a packaging and filling machine operator’s yearly income?
A packaging and filling machine operator makes a median of $43,220 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $36,850 and $49,070.
What is a packaging and filling machine operator’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $20.78 an hour; the average is $44,590 a year.
What is the starting pay for a packaging and filling machine operator?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $36,850 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $33,390.
Which state pays packaging and filling machine operators and tenders the most?
New Hampshire, with a median of $49,450 a year.
How many people work as packaging and filling machine operators and tenders?
About 379,060 in the United States — number 656 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays about the same
Median pay within $160 of what packaging and filling machine operators and tenders earn — $43,220 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $130 more Tutors $43,350median a year 10th percentile: $29,430 90th percentile: $75,990
- $150 more Gambling Surveillance Officers and Gambling Investigators $43,370median a year 10th percentile: $32,730 90th percentile: $61,970
- $160 more Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing $43,380median a year 10th percentile: $32,110 90th percentile: $56,830