Pay · 51-4193
Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic earn $43,960 a year at the midpoint
Most plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic are paid close to one another — the middle is $43,960, and even the ends, $33,790 and $60,370, are not far off.
National figures for plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, 51-4193, 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.”
Plating machine operator earnings, from starting pay to the top 10%
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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 →
Plating 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.
Plating machine operator wages across the states
The 31 states where the most people do this work, of 40 with a published figure: their medians range by 2.10 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | $70,910 | $37,690 | $37,690 — $70,910 | 440 |
| Washington | $58,000 | $46,480 | $46,480 — $79,260 | 410 |
| Arkansas | $51,140 | $29,640 | $29,640 — $73,190 | 230 |
| Oklahoma | $49,330 | $35,580 | $35,580 — $71,120 | 180 |
| Oregon | $48,050 | $39,850 | $39,850 — $61,000 | 310 |
| Nebraska | $48,010 | $37,000 | $37,000 — $63,950 | 400 |
| Colorado | $47,930 | $37,710 | $37,710 — $61,620 | 190 |
| Arizona | $47,110 | $36,830 | $36,830 — $51,060 | 640 |
| Ohio | $46,790 | $38,240 | $38,240 — $62,090 | 1,810 |
| California | $46,760 | $36,730 | $36,730 — $59,610 | 5,600 |
| Minnesota | $46,730 | $36,400 | $36,400 — $61,410 | 560 |
| Florida | $46,460 | $30,570 | $30,570 — $59,270 | 530 |
| Massachusetts | $46,150 | $35,440 | $35,440 — $57,250 | 860 |
| Pennsylvania | $45,590 | $36,150 | $36,150 — $60,490 | 1,740 |
| New York | $45,510 | $35,180 | $35,180 — $65,220 | 830 |
| South Carolina | $44,560 | $37,960 | $37,960 — $58,380 | 470 |
| Wisconsin | $44,350 | $29,430 | $29,430 — $63,220 | 940 |
| North Carolina | $43,540 | $30,260 | $30,260 — $57,770 | 710 |
| Virginia | $43,380 | $33,230 | $33,230 — $56,780 | 270 |
| New Jersey | $40,800 | $32,220 | $32,220 — $51,490 | 380 |
| Tennessee | $39,510 | $29,700 | $29,700 — $51,840 | 1,660 |
| Georgia | $39,160 | $33,670 | $33,670 — $106,010 | 660 |
| Texas | $39,060 | $26,750 | $26,750 — $55,390 | 2,090 |
| Kansas | $38,770 | $33,330 | $33,330 — $57,980 | 360 |
| Indiana | $38,680 | $35,420 | $35,420 — $58,350 | 1,250 |
| Illinois | $38,620 | $34,540 | $34,540 — $51,260 | 2,380 |
| Rhode Island | $38,580 | $37,770 | $37,770 — $61,370 | 450 |
| Michigan | $37,600 | $32,400 | $32,400 — $51,850 | 3,330 |
| Connecticut | $37,220 | $34,850 | $34,850 — $58,590 | 620 |
| Kentucky | $34,680 | $26,110 | $26,110 — $68,300 | 630 |
| Alabama | $33,730 | $26,550 | $26,550 — $44,020 | 400 |
No. 646 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 18% of the occupations in the survey.
- 644 First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers $44,080
- 645 Building Cleaning Workers, All Other $44,040
- 646 Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $43,960
- 647 Helpers--Carpenters $43,780
- 648 Forest and Conservation Workers $43,680
Resumes for plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Immersed workpieces in coating solutions or liquid metal or plastic for specified times.
- Adjusted dials to regulate flow of current and voltage supplied to terminals to control plating processes.
- Inspected coated or plated areas for defects, such as air bubbles or uneven coverage.
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.
Examples
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Questions people often ask
What is a plating machine operator’s yearly income?
A plating machine operator makes a median of $43,960 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $37,260 and $49,600.
What is a plating machine operator’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $21.14 an hour; the average is $45,100 a year.
What is the starting pay for a plating machine operator?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $37,260 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $33,790.
Which state pays plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic the most?
Iowa, with a median of $70,910 a year.
How many people work as plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic?
About 32,410 in the United States — number 646 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $280 of what plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn — $43,960 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $80 more Building Cleaning Workers, All Other $44,040median a year 10th percentile: $32,370 90th percentile: $64,030
- $120 more First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers $44,080median a year 10th percentile: $29,940 90th percentile: $65,570
- $280 less Forest and Conservation Workers $43,680median a year 10th percentile: $33,780 90th percentile: $57,220