Patternmakers, metal and plastic

November 2004 employment and annual earnings distribution, wage and salary workers

Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic: Lay out, machine, fit, and assemble castings and parts to metal or plastic foundry patterns, core boxes, or match plates.

Earnings for machine operators can vary by size of the company, union or nonunion status, industry, and skill level and experience of the operator. Also, temporary employees, who are being hired in greater numbers, usually get paid less than company-employed workers. The median hourly earnings in 2002 for a variety of machine setters, operators, and tenders—metal and plastic were as follows:

Model makers, metal and plastic	$18.27
Patternmakers, metal and plastic	16.09
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	14.79
Lay-out workers, metal and plastic	14.79
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	14.55
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	14.14
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	14.04
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	13.79
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	13.62
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	13.56
Pourers and casters, metal	13.40
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	13.23
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	12.64
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	12.56
Foundry mold and coremakers	12.55
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	12.44
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	12.22
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	11.81
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	11.17
All other metal workers and plastic workers	13.65

Machine setters, operators, and tenders—metal and plastic held about 1.3 million jobs in 2002. Approximately 9 of 10 jobs were found in manufacturing. About 38 percent of all employment was in these manufacturing industries: transportation equipment manufacturing, plastics and rubber products manufacturing, and machinery manufacturing. The following tabulation shows the distribution of employment of machine setters, operators, and tenders—metal and plastic by detailed occupation.

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	283,000
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	151,000
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	104,000
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	99,000
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	98,000
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	75,000
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	53,000
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	45,000
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	44,000
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	44,000
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	31,000
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	29,000
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	26,000
Foundry mold and coremakers	23,000
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	18,000
Pourers and casters, metal	13,000
Lay-out workers, metal and plastic	13,000
Model makers, metal and plastic	8,500
Patternmakers, metal and plastic	6,500
All other metal workers and plastic workers	104,000

(from the Occupational Outlook Handbook: Machine setters, operators, and tenders—metal and plastic)

See more recent statistics for employed workers below.

November 2004 employment and annual earnings distribution, wage and salary workers

National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Earnings

Alabama Arizona California Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Wisconsin
State maximums: employment earnings: mean 10th 25th 50th 75th 90th
Metro maximums: employment earnings: mean 10th 25th 50th 75th 90th

Patternmakers, metal and plastic
	Percentile annual earnings, $
	10th	25th	50th	75th	90th
National
U.S. employment: 7,010 mean earnings: $38,920	19,690	26,860	37,560	50,420	62,170
State and Metro Area
Alabama (ACS) (EAG) employment: 120 mean earnings: $34,190	20,860	26,930	33,390	40,860	46,350
Birmingham, AL employment: 40 mean earnings: $37,800	27,630	33,600	39,090	43,600	46,720
Arizona (ACS) (EAG) employment: 50 mean earnings: $28,720	19,670	22,380	25,200	28,170	46,200
Phoenix - Mesa, AZ employment: 40 mean earnings: $27,560	19,690	22,480	25,080	27,700	42,800
California (ACS) (EAG) employment: n.a. mean earnings: $44,510	24,130	37,350	46,040	53,440	61,110
Los Angeles - Long Beach, CA employment: n.a. mean earnings: $46,120	26,370	40,200	48,190	54,130	59,850
Oakland, CA Occupational Outlook Handbookemployment: n.a. mean earnings: $46,130	28,500	36,630	42,940	59,950	67,420
San Diego, CA employment: n.a. mean earnings: $37,780	26,230	36,600	40,310	43,580	45,550
Florida (ACS) (EAG) employment: 50 mean earnings: $26,300	15,520	17,300	22,010	34,590	43,120
Georgia (ACS) (EAG) employment: 70 mean earnings: $38,700	25,580	31,110	38,130	44,670	53,290
Illinois (ACS) (EAG) employment: 460 mean earnings: $25,440	13,410	15,650	23,180	32,960	43,790
Chicago, IL employment: n.a. mean earnings: $21,470	12,800	14,460	16,910	25,030	40,450
Indiana (ACS) (EAG) employment: 290 mean earnings: $43,450	23,310	31,810	43,650	55,220	66,360
Iowa (ACS) (EAG) employment: 210 mean earnings: $41,330	21,470	29,830	41,490	51,120	63,890
Davenport - Moline - Rock Island, IA - IL employment: 50 mean earnings: $37,240	20,710	23,480	33,080	49,090	56,210
Waterloo - Cedar Falls, IA employment: 70 mean earnings: $50,590	38,710	41,600	46,640	62,290	68,500
Kansas (ACS) (EAG) employment: 140 mean earnings: $44,840	26,530	34,150	48,250	54,440	59,160
Kentucky (ACS) (EAG) employment: 30 mean earnings: $33,200	24,930	29,610	33,080	36,720	42,720
Louisiana (ACS) (EAG) employment: 30 mean earnings: $35,750	13,950	25,020	39,210	46,120	54,270
Massachusetts (ACS) (EAG) employment: 150 mean earnings: $39,970	30,650	33,870	39,610	45,630	54,140
Boston, MA - NH employment: n.a. mean earnings: $43,760	30,740	37,720	44,780	53,040	57,980
Michigan (ACS) (EAG) employment: 1,030 mean earnings: $54,760	36,150	47,620	55,560	66,520	71,730
Detroit, MI Occupational Outlook Handbookemployment: n.a. mean earnings: $41,810	21,190	32,070	41,970	52,590	60,740
Grand Rapids - Muskegon - Holland, MI employment: n.a. mean earnings: $58,810	46,150	50,440	61,860	69,570	74,190
Minnesota (ACS) (EAG) employment: 40 mean earnings: $38,780	29,530	32,340	36,480	47,080	53,530
Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN - WI employment: 30 mean earnings: $38,770	29,750	32,550	36,530	47,420	53,780
Mississippi (ACS) (EAG) employment: 50 mean earnings: $29,990	18,520	23,300	31,630	36,840	41,700
Missouri (ACS) (EAG) employment: 70 mean earnings: $34,780	25,970	29,600	34,380	40,110	43,910
St. Louis, MO - IL employment: 70 mean earnings: $36,480	27,930	31,440	36,950	41,730	44,590
New Jersey (ACS) (EAG) employment: 40 mean earnings: $35,450	20,170	25,520	37,910	43,480	46,790
New York (ACS) (EAG) employment: 210 mean earnings: $35,750	21,610	27,440	34,240	44,700	53,560
Buffalo - Niagara Falls, NY employment: n.a. mean earnings: $34,330	24,390	26,670	32,320	41,470	49,330
Nassau - Suffolk, NY employment: 50 mean earnings: $33,600	15,480	18,560	33,830	48,430	54,480
North Carolina (ACS) (EAG) employment: 60 mean earnings: $27,940	12,920	14,930	29,120	36,780	42,770
Ohio (ACS) (EAG) employment: 570 mean earnings: $43,190	25,860	31,370	39,210	59,280	68,150
Akron, OH employment: n.a. mean earnings: $33,360	27,220	30,410	33,360	36,640	42,710
Cincinnati, OH - KY - IN employment: 50 mean earnings: $40,240	25,470	31,880	40,640	49,590	55,110
Columbus, OH employment: n.a. mean earnings: $46,070	29,580	34,280	50,510	54,970	57,650
Toledo, OH employment: 30 mean earnings: $37,630	25,580	31,570	39,160	43,340	46,750
Youngstown - Warren, OH employment: 60 mean earnings: $34,070	25,060	30,420	33,810	38,550	44,750
Oklahoma (ACS) (EAG) employment: 130 mean earnings: $29,930	18,260	20,600	24,870	33,190	60,500
Oklahoma City, OK employment: 40 mean earnings: $38,720	18,820	21,540	28,880	61,930	67,830
Pennsylvania (ACS) (EAG) employment: 650 mean earnings: $37,930	18,600	26,800	36,680	51,050	57,190
Allentown - Bethlehem - Easton, PA employment: n.a. mean earnings: $33,800	23,920	25,960	30,940	36,630	52,500
Erie, PA employment: n.a. mean earnings: $29,280	12,810	24,130	30,300	35,400	43,320
Philadelphia, PA - NJ employment: n.a. mean earnings: $49,280	38,980	44,310	51,290	56,900	60,040
Pittsburgh, PA employment: 150 mean earnings: $28,930	15,850	17,870	22,550	45,820	53,100
Tennessee (ACS) (EAG) employment: 110 mean earnings: $36,940	29,280	33,790	38,400	41,990	44,150
Texas (ACS) (EAG) employment: 580 mean earnings: $25,810	15,880	18,650	22,620	32,550	39,120
Utah (ACS) (EAG) employment: 30 mean earnings: $27,740	18,670	24,590	29,070	32,330	34,460
Virginia (ACS) (EAG) employment: 120 mean earnings: $36,650	23,940	29,760	36,970	42,560	50,150
Lynchburg, VA employment: 30 mean earnings: $31,830	20,090	24,690	32,700	40,140	43,350
Norfolk - Virginia Beach - Newport News, VA - NC employment: 30 mean earnings: $36,710	24,590	30,620	37,580	43,210	48,470
Wisconsin (ACS) (EAG) Occupational Outlook Handbook employment: 710 mean earnings: $40,550	26,630	32,350	41,040	48,870	54,670
Appleton - Oshkosh - Neenah, WI employment: 100 mean earnings: $43,060	29,110	32,730	47,150	52,690	56,010
La Crosse, WI - MN employment: n.a. mean earnings: $39,130	25,450	32,680	40,550	45,830	51,770
Milwaukee - Waukesha, WI employment: n.a. mean earnings: $40,810	28,250	33,360	41,440	49,050	53,740

source: Occupational Employment Statistics Program; about these estimates

The highlighted text indicates the maximum values in each column among the states and metropolitan areas.

The (ACS) links lead to data from the American Community Survey from the Census Bureau.

The (EAG) links lead to U.S. Economy at a Glance data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.