Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · SOC 51-4191
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary in the Milwaukee Metro Area
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area
Figures describe the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Milwaukee city limits.
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area earned a median of $49,280 per year ($23.69 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $47,560 at the 10th percentile to $67,480 at the 90th. BLS estimates 180 people work in this occupation in the area.
Pay distribution
Half of Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Milwaukee metro area earn more than $49,280 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $48,750 and $60,380.
| Wage | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual | $47,560 | $48,750 | $49,280 | $60,380 | $67,480 |
| Hourly | $22.87 | $23.44 | $23.69 | $29.03 | $32.44 |
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
- Milwaukee metro areathis metro area$49,280 median for Milwaukee metro area; middle half earns $48,750 to $60,380
- Wisconsinstate (WI)$49,100 median for Wisconsin; middle half earns $47,930 to $58,400
- United Statesnational$48,750 median for United States; middle half earns $40,660 to $58,400
Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.
The median here is about the same vs Wisconsin overall and +1% 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 Milwaukee metro area has the 39th-highest published median for this occupation among the 64 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:
Highest-paying metro areas for heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics · Highest-paying occupations in Milwaukee 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.