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 Seattle Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area

Figures describe the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Seattle city limits.

Median annual wage$61,990
Median hourly wage$29.80

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area earned a median of $61,990 per year ($29.80 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $51,020 at the 10th percentile to $106,130 at the 90th. BLS estimates 110 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Seattle metro area earn more than $61,990 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $52,560 and $104,660.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$51,020$52,560$61,990$104,660$106,130
Hourly$24.53$25.27$29.80$50.32$51.03

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

  • Seattle metro areathis metro area
    $61,990 median for Seattle metro area; middle half earns $52,560 to $104,660
  • Washingtonstate (WA)
    $61,990 median for Washington; middle half earns $52,560 to $80,790
  • $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 Washington overall and +27% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$34,650$45,457$56,263$67,070Columbus, IN — $34,650San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $36,510Rockford, IL — $39,240Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA — $40,300Knoxville, TN — $40,940Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $41,600Fort Wayne, IN — $43,960New Haven, CT — $44,350Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $45,050Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $45,100Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $45,110Birmingham, AL — $45,440Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $46,510Jackson, MS — $46,630Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $47,150Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $47,160Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $47,430Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $47,550Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $48,060Erie, PA — $48,120Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $48,240Saginaw, MI — $48,340Lansing-East Lansing, MI — $48,640Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $48,670Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $49,100Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $49,280South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI — $49,430Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $49,470Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $49,600Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $49,620Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $49,680New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $50,010Spartanburg, SC — $50,280Cleveland, OH — $50,690Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $50,790Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $50,920Monroe, MI — $51,020Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $51,190Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $51,430Richmond, VA — $52,340St. Louis, MO-IL — $53,100Reading, PA — $53,860Akron, OH — $54,120Rochester, NY — $54,170Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $55,370Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $55,650Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $56,280Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $56,380York-Hanover, PA — $57,290Chattanooga, TN-GA — $57,800Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $58,250San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $58,300Pittsburgh, PA — $58,890Peoria, IL — $59,160San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $59,530Springfield, MA — $60,110Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI — $60,190Worcester, MA — $61,050Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $61,990Columbus, OH — $62,530Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX — $63,960Albany, OR — $64,210Oklahoma City, OK — $65,640Canton-Massillon, OH — $67,070

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 Seattle metro area has the 6th-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 Seattle 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.