Pay · 51-9196
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders earn $50,270 a year at the midpoint
Starting pay is close to the middle here: the 25th percentile is $44,920 against a median of $50,270, so the first years are not a long climb.
National figures for paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders, 51-9196, 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.”
Paper goods machine operator earnings, from starting pay up 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 →
No. 518 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 34% of the occupations in the survey.
- 516 Statistical Assistants $50,330
- 517 Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other $50,290
- 518 Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders $50,270
- 519 Highway Maintenance Workers $50,260
- 520 Travel Agents $50,160
Paper goods machine operator wages by state
The 35 states where the most people do this work, of 43 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.39 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | $63,640 | $39,480 | $39,480 — $79,410 | 1,390 |
| Maine | $61,780 | $47,310 | $47,310 — $83,340 | 740 |
| Utah | $60,790 | $45,880 | $45,880 — $73,270 | 1,350 |
| Washington | $59,410 | $44,640 | $44,640 — $74,410 | 2,170 |
| Louisiana | $58,230 | $44,480 | $44,480 — $79,730 | 1,150 |
| Minnesota | $58,150 | $40,250 | $40,250 — $74,310 | 1,960 |
| Kentucky | $58,050 | $46,450 | $46,450 — $76,610 | 2,670 |
| Wisconsin | $58,050 | $45,740 | $45,740 — $70,240 | 8,510 |
| Idaho | $57,950 | $50,930 | $50,930 — $89,760 | 480 |
| Oregon | $56,810 | $46,300 | $46,300 — $83,640 | 680 |
| Illinois | $56,400 | $39,830 | $39,830 — $62,810 | 5,360 |
| New York | $52,800 | $35,830 | $35,830 — $68,510 | 3,280 |
| Alabama | $52,290 | $36,670 | $36,670 — $79,660 | 3,800 |
| Pennsylvania | $51,780 | $37,910 | $37,910 — $70,000 | 7,410 |
| Michigan | $50,540 | $38,950 | $38,950 — $66,750 | 3,000 |
| Georgia | $50,160 | $35,140 | $35,140 — $75,900 | 5,650 |
| South Carolina | $50,040 | $37,560 | $37,560 — $79,320 | 2,460 |
| Virginia | $49,900 | $36,950 | $36,950 — $78,210 | 2,370 |
| Arizona | $49,160 | $37,300 | $37,300 — $58,270 | 1,190 |
| Florida | $48,910 | $37,390 | $37,390 — $74,990 | 1,360 |
| Massachusetts | $48,840 | $38,600 | $38,600 — $65,220 | 1,920 |
| Indiana | $48,780 | $36,070 | $36,070 — $60,800 | 2,580 |
| California | $48,730 | $37,450 | $37,450 — $65,210 | 5,570 |
| Arkansas | $48,630 | $35,870 | $35,870 — $61,770 | 2,060 |
| Connecticut | $48,530 | $38,500 | $38,500 — $72,900 | 650 |
| North Carolina | $47,940 | $35,480 | $35,480 — $63,410 | 4,800 |
| Texas | $47,830 | $36,490 | $36,490 — $66,200 | 3,740 |
| Maryland | $47,780 | $34,980 | $34,980 — $60,090 | 480 |
| Missouri | $47,560 | $37,370 | $37,370 — $59,400 | 1,540 |
| Ohio | $47,450 | $38,570 | $38,570 — $60,680 | 4,640 |
| Mississippi | $47,380 | $33,800 | $33,800 — $80,770 | 960 |
| Tennessee | $46,920 | $31,550 | $31,550 — $60,170 | 3,490 |
| Iowa | $46,110 | $37,420 | $37,420 — $83,480 | 1,010 |
| New Jersey | $45,950 | $35,330 | $35,330 — $62,920 | 3,210 |
| Kansas | $45,840 | $35,920 | $35,920 — $55,360 | 420 |
Writing a resume for paper goods 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.
- Examined completed work to detect defects and verify conformance to work orders, and adjust machinery as necessary to correct production problems.
- Observed operation of various machines to detect and correct machine malfunctions such as improper forming, glue flow, or pasteboard tension.
- Started machines and moved controls to regulate tension on pressure rolls, to synchronize speed of machine components, and to adjust temperatures of glue or paraffin.
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.
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Paper goods 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.
Questions people ask
What is a paper goods machine operator’s yearly income?
A paper goods machine operator makes a median of $50,270 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $44,920 and $60,180.
What is a paper goods machine operator’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $24.17 an hour; the average is $52,840 a year.
What is the starting pay for a paper goods machine operator?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $44,920 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $37,300.
Which state pays paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders the most?
Oklahoma, with a median of $63,640 a year.
How many people work as paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders?
About 96,130 in the United States — number 518 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $190 of what paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders earn — $50,270 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $10 less Highway Maintenance Workers $50,260median a year 10th percentile: $36,230 90th percentile: $71,970
- $70 more Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance $50,340median a year 10th percentile: $36,030 90th percentile: $78,140
- $190 less Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks $50,080median a year 10th percentile: $30,260 90th percentile: $72,700