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Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · SOC 51-9196

Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Salary in the Boston Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area

Figures describe the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Boston city limits.

Median annual wage$58,820
Median hourly wage$28.28

Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area earned a median of $58,820 per year ($28.28 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $42,030 at the 10th percentile to $78,320 at the 90th. BLS estimates 470 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in the Boston metro area earn more than $58,820 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $46,940 and $65,220.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$42,030$46,940$58,820$65,220$78,320
Hourly$20.21$22.57$28.28$31.35$37.66

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

  • Boston metro areathis metro area
    $58,820
  • Massachusettsstate (MA)
    $48,840
  • United Statesnational
    $50,270

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

The median here is +20% vs Massachusetts overall and +17% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$30,530$48,177$65,823$83,470San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $30,530Dalton, GA — $35,560Morristown, TN — $36,330Vineland, NJ — $37,450El Paso, TX — $37,800Salinas, CA — $38,140Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $38,210Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA — $38,590Winston-Salem, NC — $38,730Roanoke, VA — $39,040Oklahoma City, OK — $39,520Lebanon, PA — $40,010Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $40,350Elkhart-Goshen, IN — $43,420Lincoln, NE — $44,130Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $44,340Hattiesburg, MS — $44,450San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $44,760Altoona, PA — $44,890Springfield, OH — $45,000Decatur, AL — $45,050Canton-Massillon, OH — $45,260Toledo, OH — $45,370Springfield, MO — $45,440Ann Arbor, MI — $45,800Jackson, TN — $45,900Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $45,960Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $46,130Clarksville, TN-KY — $46,150Joplin, MO-KS — $46,180Springfield, MA — $46,350New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $46,410Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR — $46,530Fresno, CA — $46,800Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $46,840Macon-Bibb County, GA — $46,910Knoxville, TN — $46,920Asheville, NC — $46,940Greensboro-High Point, NC — $46,990Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $47,010Pittsburgh, PA — $47,010Cleveland, OH — $47,050Worcester, MA — $47,200Jackson, MS — $47,210Spartanburg, SC — $47,310Janesville-Beloit, WI — $47,320Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $47,420Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $47,510Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $47,650Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $47,760Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $47,970Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $48,050Fort Wayne, IN — $48,080Florence, SC — $48,140Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $48,150Kansas City, MO-KS — $48,220Columbus, OH — $48,340Birmingham, AL — $48,450St. Louis, MO-IL — $48,570Akron, OH — $48,580Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $48,640Visalia, CA — $48,730Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC — $48,740Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $48,760Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $48,900Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $48,910Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $48,930Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $48,940Stockton-Lodi, CA — $49,100Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $49,120Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $49,160Madison, WI — $49,220Salem, OR — $49,450Killeen-Temple, TX — $49,520Niles, MI — $49,590Gettysburg, PA — $49,660Rochester, NY — $49,850Lynchburg, VA — $49,900Reno, NV — $49,920Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $49,970Richmond, VA — $49,980Montgomery, AL — $50,120Chattanooga, TN-GA — $50,330Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $50,800Columbia, SC — $51,010Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $51,140Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $51,190Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $51,220Kalamazoo-Portage, MI — $51,360Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $51,360York-Hanover, PA — $51,500Reading, PA — $52,130Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL — $52,390Lancaster, PA — $52,560Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV — $52,790Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $53,870Yakima, WA — $54,060Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $54,410Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $55,810Rockford, IL — $56,800Syracuse, NY — $57,060Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $57,100Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA — $57,540Bowling Green, KY — $57,620San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $57,780Battle Creek, MI — $57,810Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $57,840Kenosha, WI — $57,910Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI — $58,050Jacksonville, FL — $58,480Oshkosh-Neenah, WI — $58,560Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $58,820Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $59,000Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT — $59,010Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $59,020Modesto, CA — $59,150Green Bay, WI — $59,230Appleton, WI — $59,550Longview-Kelso, WA — $59,770Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $59,980Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT — $60,440Wausau, WI — $61,070Glens Falls, NY — $61,830Albany, OR — $63,800Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $64,020Terre Haute, IN — $65,110Pittsfield, MA — $65,190Cedar Rapids, IA — $83,470

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 Boston metro area has the 17th-highest published median for this occupation among the 128 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 Massachusetts

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • Boston metro areathis page
    $58,820
  • Pittsfield metro area
    $65,190
  • Worcester metro area
    $47,200
  • Springfield metro area
    $46,350

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:

Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$47,860Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$48,060First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers$82,660Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$58,210Machinists$72,060Bakers$38,570

Highest-paying metro areas for paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenderss · Highest-paying occupations in Boston 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.