Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · SOC 51-4032
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary in the Chattanooga Metro Area
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Chattanooga, TN-GA metro area
Figures describe the Chattanooga, TN-GA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Chattanooga city limits.
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Chattanooga, TN-GA metro area earned a median of $41,810 per year ($20.10 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $41,060 at the 10th percentile to $46,480 at the 90th. BLS estimates 60 people work in this occupation in the area.
Pay distribution
Half of Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Chattanooga metro area earn more than $41,810 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $41,810 and $46,480.
| Wage | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual | $41,060 | $41,810 | $41,810 | $46,480 | $46,480 |
| Hourly | $19.74 | $20.10 | $20.10 | $22.34 | $22.34 |
A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.
How this area compares
- Chattanooga metro areathis metro area$41,810 median for Chattanooga metro area; middle half earns $41,810 to $46,480
- Tennesseestate (TN)$45,070 median for Tennessee; middle half earns $41,710 to $46,320
- United Statesnational$49,080 median for United States; middle half earns $41,710 to $57,940
Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.
The median here is −7% vs Tennessee overall and −15% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.
Where this metro sits nationally
Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.
The Chattanooga metro area has the 18th-highest published median for this occupation among the 22 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.
Other metro areas in Tennessee
Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.
- Chattanooga metro areathis page$41,810 median for Chattanooga metro area; middle half earns $41,810 to $46,480
- $41,710 median for Knoxville metro area; middle half earns $41,510 to $41,710
Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.
Keep exploring
Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:
Highest-paying metro areas for drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics · Highest-paying occupations in Chattanooga Metro
About this estimate
These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.
Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.
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.