Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders · SOC 51-3091

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenderss

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

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 70 metro areas

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$78,750	120	0.1
2	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$62,890	310	0.2
3	Modesto, CA	$61,130	70	0.4
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$60,230	280	0.1
5	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$60,170	90	0.0
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$56,270	100	0.1
7	Appleton, WI	$55,400	70	0.6
8	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$54,950	80	0.1
9	Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	$52,650	60	0.8
10	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$51,160	40	0.9
11	Yakima, WA	$50,840	40	0.4
12	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$50,800	80	0.2
13	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$50,680	120	0.1
14	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$49,970	190	0.3
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$49,920	300	0.2
16	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$49,860	70	0.1
17	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$49,780	40	0.1
18	Pittsburgh, PA	$49,570	Not published	Not published
19	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$49,090	80	0.1
20	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$48,570	120	0.1
21	St. Cloud, MN	$48,370	70	0.7
22	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$48,350	50	0.2
23	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$48,330	460	0.2
24	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$48,000	340	0.2
25	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	$47,710	Not published	Not published

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders 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.