Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · SOC 51-4032

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastics

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (1 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 22 of 22 metro areas

Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$79,120	60	0.0
2	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$63,320	80	0.0
3	Tulsa, OK	$58,210	180	0.4
4	Peoria, IL	$56,840	70	0.4
5	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$52,260	70	0.1
6	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$51,740	Not published	Not published
7	Cleveland, OH	$51,670	70	0.1
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$50,920	130	0.1
9	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$50,810	80	0.0
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$49,080	400	0.1
11	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	$48,480	50	0.4
12	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$48,140	60	0.0
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$47,330	50	0.0
14	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$47,010	70	0.0
15	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$46,460	90	0.0
16	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$46,270	50	0.0
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$45,960	30	0.0
18	Chattanooga, TN-GA	$41,810	60	0.2
19	Knoxville, TN	$41,710	70	0.2
20	Pittsburgh, PA	$40,170	80	0.1
21	Oklahoma City, OK	$37,340	50	0.1
22	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$35,660	110	0.0

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.