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Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · SOC 51-4033

Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary in the Washington Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area

Figures describe the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Washington city limits.

Median annual wage$40,600
Median hourly wage$19.52

Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area earned a median of $40,600 per year ($19.52 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $35,670 at the 10th percentile to $58,080 at the 90th. BLS estimates 70 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Washington metro area earn more than $40,600 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $37,780 and $48,590.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$35,670$37,780$40,600$48,590$58,080
Hourly$17.15$18.16$19.52$23.36$27.93

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.

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How this area compares

  • Washington metro areathis metro area
    $40,600
  • United Statesnational
    $46,550

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is −13% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$28,700$41,537$54,373$67,210San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $28,700Baton Rouge, LA — $35,790Oklahoma City, OK — $36,040Birmingham, AL — $36,180Huntsville, AL — $36,520Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL — $36,520Ogden, UT — $36,710Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $36,830Winston-Salem, NC — $37,040Lynchburg, VA — $37,110Fort Smith, AR-OK — $37,590Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV — $37,750Flint, MI — $37,910San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $37,960Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $38,220Kalamazoo-Portage, MI — $38,500El Paso, TX — $38,540Tulsa, OK — $38,570Jacksonville, FL — $38,670Wilmington, NC — $38,720Montgomery, AL — $38,790Chattanooga, TN-GA — $38,890Mobile, AL — $38,900Michigan City-La Porte, IN — $39,050Anniston-Oxford, AL — $39,080Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $39,080Knoxville, TN — $39,170Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR — $39,240Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC — $39,300Traverse City, MI — $39,420Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA — $39,440Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX — $39,720Clarksville, TN-KY — $39,770Niles, MI — $40,000Fresno, CA — $40,040Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $40,310Ann Arbor, MI — $40,500Wausau, WI — $40,580Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $40,600Battle Creek, MI — $40,610Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $41,050Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $41,150Killeen-Temple, TX — $41,490Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $42,250Greeley, CO — $42,330Wichita, KS — $42,370Colorado Springs, CO — $42,420Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $42,700Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $43,130Columbus, IN — $43,240Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $43,280Elmira, NY — $43,620Monroe, MI — $43,680Morristown, TN — $43,680Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $43,960Lansing-East Lansing, MI — $44,100Kankakee, IL — $44,130Stockton-Lodi, CA — $44,160Springfield, OH — $44,270South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI — $44,340York-Hanover, PA — $44,450Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $44,580Rockford, IL — $44,580Columbus, OH — $44,650Modesto, CA — $44,780Kansas City, MO-KS — $44,860Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $44,890Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $44,900Tucson, AZ — $44,930Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $44,960Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $44,960Manchester-Nashua, NH — $45,030Youngstown-Warren, OH — $45,030Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $45,050Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $45,100Rochester, NY — $45,110Lewiston, ID-WA — $45,130Coeur d'Alene, ID — $45,140North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL — $45,190Evansville, IN — $45,230Mansfield, OH — $45,250Akron, OH — $45,330Toledo, OH — $45,350Erie, PA — $45,390Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC — $45,430Cleveland, OH — $45,440Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $45,440Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $45,500Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI — $45,560Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $45,620Columbia, SC — $45,780Fond du Lac, WI — $45,850Cedar Rapids, IA — $45,990Yakima, WA — $46,020Carson City, NV — $46,140San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $46,160Springfield, MO — $46,170Worcester, MA — $46,210Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ — $46,220St. Louis, MO-IL — $46,230Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA — $46,230Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $46,290Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $46,360Terre Haute, IN — $46,370Roanoke, VA — $46,390Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT — $46,400Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $46,420Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $46,490Fort Wayne, IN — $46,530Omaha, NE-IA — $46,590Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $46,670Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA — $46,680Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $46,700Binghamton, NY — $46,720Jackson, MI — $46,730Kenosha, WI — $46,740Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $46,760Reno, NV — $46,760Green Bay, WI — $46,790Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL — $47,170Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL — $47,170Madison, WI — $47,220Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $47,320Lancaster, PA — $47,350Florence, SC — $47,380Syracuse, NY — $47,420Elkhart-Goshen, IN — $47,440Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $47,440Waco, TX — $47,480Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $47,530Vallejo, CA — $47,630Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $47,650Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $47,650Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $47,680Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $47,750Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $47,860Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT — $47,890San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $48,320Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $48,370Oshkosh-Neenah, WI — $48,390Lincoln, NE — $48,500Pittsburgh, PA — $48,530New Haven, CT — $48,570Dubuque, IA — $48,620Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $48,620Greensboro-High Point, NC — $48,630Pueblo, CO — $48,640New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $48,690Richmond, VA — $48,960Eau Claire, WI — $49,010San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $49,230Peoria, IL — $49,300Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA — $49,430Appleton, WI — $49,500Portland-South Portland, ME — $49,640Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT — $49,680Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $50,130Burlington-South Burlington, VT — $50,280Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA — $50,300Asheville, NC — $50,400Janesville-Beloit, WI — $50,650Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY — $50,760Albany, OR — $50,840Saginaw, MI — $50,880Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $51,000Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $51,070Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $51,930Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $51,990Sheboygan, WI — $52,310Springfield, MA — $52,660Tyler, TX — $52,880Reading, PA — $53,090Longview-Kelso, WA — $53,620Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $53,930Spartanburg, SC — $55,080Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH — $55,590Rochester, MN — $55,990Sandusky, OH — $56,670St. Cloud, MN — $57,110Utica-Rome, NY — $57,420Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $58,680Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI — $59,750Bend, OR — $60,180Canton-Massillon, OH — $67,210

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 Washington metro area has the 146th-highest published median for this occupation among the 184 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”.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Bakers$38,650First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers$77,990Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$36,300Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$46,400Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$61,820Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$60,670

Highest-paying metro areas for grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics · Highest-paying occupations in Washington 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.