Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021

51-5112 Printing Press Operators

Set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Includes short-run offset printing presses.

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National estimates for Printing Press Operators
Industry profile for Printing Press Operators
Geographic profile for Printing Press Operators

National estimates for Printing Press Operators:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Printing Press Operators:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
145,290	1.2 %	$ 19.77	$ 41,120	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Printing Press Operators:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 13.41	$ 14.50	$ 18.16	$ 22.91	$ 28.76
Annual Wage (2)	$ 27,890	$ 30,160	$ 37,770	$ 47,640	$ 59,830

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Industry profile for Printing Press Operators:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Printing Press Operators are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Printing Press Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Printing Press Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Printing and Related Support Activities	83,600	22.71	$ 20.07	$ 41,740
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	11,490	4.40	$ 21.82	$ 45,380
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	7,150	1.64	$ 16.91	$ 35,160
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	6,840	2.76	$ 19.79	$ 41,170
Plastics Product Manufacturing	4,750	0.81	$ 19.93	$ 41,450

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Printing Press Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Printing and Related Support Activities	83,600	22.71	$ 20.07	$ 41,740
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	11,490	4.40	$ 21.82	$ 45,380
Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media	410	3.90	$ 17.15	$ 35,680
Textile and Fabric Finishing and Fabric Coating Mills	700	2.91	$ 15.20	$ 31,610
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	6,840	2.76	$ 19.79	$ 41,170

Top paying industries for Printing Press Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	550	0.03	$ 50.70	$ 105,450
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	40	0.01	$ 33.72	$ 70,140
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	80	0.02	$ 30.13	$ 62,670
Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities	(8)	(8)	$ 28.57	$ 59,430
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	390	0.08	$ 27.20	$ 56,580

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Geographic profile for Printing Press Operators:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Printing Press Operators are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Printing Press Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Printing Press Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	12,240	0.74	0.72	$ 21.19	$ 44,060
Illinois	9,330	1.66	1.61	$ 19.50	$ 40,560
Texas	8,460	0.69	0.67	$ 18.89	$ 39,290
Ohio	7,980	1.53	1.49	$ 18.97	$ 39,450
Pennsylvania	7,390	1.32	1.28	$ 20.55	$ 42,740

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Printing Press Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Wisconsin	7,310	2.66	2.57	$ 21.42	$ 44,560
Minnesota	6,250	2.29	2.22	$ 21.23	$ 44,160
Kansas	2,600	1.94	1.88	$ 18.22	$ 37,890
Nebraska	1,760	1.84	1.78	$ 18.60	$ 38,700
Kentucky	3,170	1.73	1.67	$ 18.01	$ 37,460

Top paying states for Printing Press Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	410	0.62	0.60	$ 43.24	$ 89,940
Washington	2,490	0.78	0.75	$ 22.79	$ 47,410
New York	6,900	0.80	0.77	$ 22.78	$ 47,390
New Jersey	3,070	0.80	0.77	$ 22.65	$ 47,110
Massachusetts	2,600	0.77	0.74	$ 22.22	$ 46,220

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Printing Press Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	7,790	1.84	1.79	$ 19.64	$ 40,840
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	5,990	1.05	1.02	$ 20.93	$ 43,540
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	5,740	0.66	0.64	$ 24.22	$ 50,370
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	4,240	2.33	2.26	$ 21.97	$ 45,700
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	3,680	1.02	0.99	$ 20.76	$ 43,180
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	2,990	1.13	1.09	$ 21.58	$ 44,880
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	2,700	1.04	1.01	$ 19.45	$ 40,450
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	2,420	3.08	2.99	$ 22.14	$ 46,050
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	2,040	1.99	1.93	$ 19.12	$ 39,770
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	1,990	0.68	0.66	$ 27.33	$ 56,850

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Printing Press Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Lawrence, KS	470	10.31	10.00	$ 17.62	$ 36,660
Mankato-North Mankato, MN	360	6.98	6.76	$ 21.72	$ 45,170
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	580	6.47	6.27	$ 22.01	$ 45,770
Green Bay, WI	1,040	6.32	6.13	$ 21.59	$ 44,900
Ames, IA	200	4.59	4.45	$ 19.29	$ 40,120
Dalton, GA	280	4.54	4.40	$ 16.31	$ 33,920
Walla Walla, WA	120	4.52	4.38	$ 18.75	$ 39,010
La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN	320	4.40	4.27	$ 18.91	$ 39,330
Gettysburg, PA	130	4.11	3.99	$ 21.18	$ 44,040
Harrisonburg, VA	230	3.77	3.66	$ 18.36	$ 38,190