Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · SOC 51-4072
Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastics
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas
Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for molding, coremaking, and casting machine 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 25 of 223 metro areas
| # | Metro area | Median annual | Employment | Per 1,000 jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $77,560 | 140 | 0.3 |
| 2 | Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $74,650 | 180 | 2.0 |
| 3 | Saginaw, MI | $74,130 | 280 | 3.5 |
| 4 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $66,540 | 100 | 0.1 |
| 5 | Portland-South Portland, ME | $62,690 | 320 | 1.1 |
| 6 | Evansville, IN | $61,160 | 790 | 5.8 |
| 7 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | $60,430 | 520 | 2.9 |
| 8 | Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | $58,730 | 90 | 0.6 |
| 9 | Peoria, IL | $56,720 | 330 | 2.0 |
| 10 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $56,130 | 210 | 0.2 |
| 11 | Columbia, SC | $55,670 | 230 | 0.6 |
| 12 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | $55,550 | 170 | 2.0 |
| 13 | Sheboygan, WI | $55,410 | 970 | 16.0 |
| 14 | Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $55,400 | 190 | 0.2 |
| 15 | Mobile, AL | $55,350 | 190 | 1.1 |
| 16 | Reading, PA | $54,470 | 690 | 4.0 |
| 17 | Corpus Christi, TX | $53,890 | 80 | 0.4 |
| 18 | Utica-Rome, NY | $53,160 | 110 | 0.9 |
| 19 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $52,810 | 490 | 0.2 |
| 20 | Oklahoma City, OK | $51,360 | 630 | 0.9 |
| 21 | Ogden, UT | $51,230 | 850 | 3.1 |
| 22 | St. Cloud, MN | $51,060 | 60 | 0.6 |
| 23 | St. Joseph, MO-KS | $51,020 | 70 | 1.4 |
| 24 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | $50,710 | 130 | 0.3 |
| 25 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $50,700 | 60 | 0.5 |
Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine 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.