Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Salary in the United States
The median annual wage for paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders in the U.S. is $50,270 ($24.17 per hour), according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates.
- Median annual wage
- $50,270
- Mean annual wage
- $52,840
- Median hourly wage
- $24.17
- Employment
- 96,130
96,130 employed
Wage percentiles
| Percentile | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $37,300 | $17.93 |
| 25th percentile | $44,920 | $21.60 |
| Median (50th) | $50,270 | $24.17 |
| 75th percentile | $60,180 | $28.93 |
| 90th percentile | $70,320 | $33.81 |
Highest-paying states for paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders
| State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | $63,640 | 1,390 |
| Maine | $61,780 | 740 |
| Utah | $60,790 | 1,350 |
| Washington | $59,410 | 2,170 |
| Louisiana | $58,230 | 1,150 |
| Minnesota | $58,150 | 1,960 |
| Kentucky | $58,050 | 2,670 |
| Wisconsin | $58,050 | 8,510 |
| Idaho | $57,950 | 480 |
| Oregon | $56,810 | 680 |
Lowest-paying states
- Kansas: $45,840 median annual wage
- New Jersey: $45,950 median annual wage
- Iowa: $46,110 median annual wage
- South Dakota: $46,910 median annual wage
- Tennessee: $46,920 median annual wage
About this occupation
Set up, operate, or tend paper goods machines that perform a variety of functions, such as converting, sawing, corrugating, banding, wrapping, boxing, stitching, forming, or sealing paper or paperboard sheets into products.
Typical tasks
- Measure, space, and set saw blades, cutters, and perforators, according to product specifications.
- Examine completed work to detect defects and verify conformance to work orders, and adjust machinery as necessary to correct production problems.
- Install attachments to machines for gluing, folding, printing, or cutting.
- Place rolls of paper or cardboard on machine feed tracks, and thread paper through gluing, coating, and slitting rollers.
- Lift tote boxes of finished cartons, and dump cartons into feed hoppers.
- Monitor finished cartons as they drop from forming machines into rotating hoppers and into gravity feed chutes to prevent jamming.
Education of the current workforce — typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Less than high school diploma | 19.2% |
| High school diploma or equivalent | 46.7% |
| Some college, no degree | 20.1% |
| Associate's degree | 6.3% |
| Bachelor's degree | 7.4% |
| Doctoral or professional degree | 0.3% |
Occupation profile data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Related occupations
- Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$44,650
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers$74,450
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$48,570
- Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$53,750
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$43,220
- Machinists$58,750
- Production Workers, All Other$40,110
- Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$45,850
About this data
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- CareerOneStop Occupation Profiles — data period 2026-08, retrieved August 14, 2026.
Figures are shown exactly as published by the source or derived by the documented formulas on our methodology page. Where a source suppresses an estimate, we show “—” rather than a substitute value.