Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · SOC 51-4034

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Lathe and Turning 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 lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic. 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 61 metro areas

Lathe and Turning 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	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$74,420	360	0.3
2	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$66,980	80	0.2
3	Pittsburgh, PA	$66,500	220	0.2
4	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$64,950	130	0.1
5	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$64,790	60	0.0
6	Spartanburg, SC	$61,940	90	0.5
7	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$61,890	510	0.2
8	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$61,050	240	0.2
9	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$60,190	30	0.0
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$60,110	1,280	0.2
11	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$59,740	180	0.3
12	Springfield, MA	$59,030	100	0.5
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$57,990	230	0.1
14	Peoria, IL	$57,330	190	1.1
15	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$57,010	210	0.1
16	New Haven, CT	$56,160	30	0.1
17	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$55,850	90	0.0
18	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$54,850	50	0.0
19	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$53,840	130	0.1
20	Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH	$53,660	40	0.3
21	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$52,570	130	0.1
22	Worcester, MA	$52,440	80	0.2
23	Canton-Massillon, OH	$52,330	90	0.5
24	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$52,070	170	0.0
25	South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI	$52,000	40	0.3

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Lathe and Turning 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.