Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021

51-9151 Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

Perform work involved in developing and processing photographic images from film or digital media. May perform precision tasks such as editing photographic negatives and prints.

National estimates for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
Industry profile for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
Geographic profile for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

National estimates for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
5,740	6.2 %	$ 19.37	$ 40,300	1.8 %

Percentile wage estimates for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 12.58	$ 14.27	$ 17.59	$ 22.34	$ 29.16
Annual Wage (2)	$ 26,170	$ 29,690	$ 36,590	$ 46,460	$ 60,650

Industry profile for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	2,040	0.27	$ 16.97	$ 35,300
Other Personal Services	1,090	0.37	$ 17.93	$ 37,300
General Merchandise Stores	310	0.01	$ 21.61	$ 44,950
Employment Services	220	0.01	$ 22.30	$ 46,390
Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media	200	1.87	$ 19.45	$ 40,460

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media	200	1.87	$ 19.45	$ 40,460
Other Personal Services	1,090	0.37	$ 17.93	$ 37,300
Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	2,040	0.27	$ 16.97	$ 35,300
Printing and Related Support Activities	140	0.04	(8)	(8)
Electronics and Appliance Stores	170	0.04	$ 19.25	$ 40,040

Top paying industries for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Management of Companies and Enterprises	110	(7)	$ 31.97	$ 66,500
Motion Picture and Video Industries	(8)	(8)	$ 31.55	$ 65,630
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	40	0.01	$ 29.26	$ 60,860
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	80	(7)	$ 26.04	$ 54,160
Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing	40	0.01	$ 22.75	$ 47,320

Geographic profile for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

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

Map of employment of photographic process workers and processing machine operators by state, May 2021

States with the highest employment level in Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	1,140	0.07	1.69	$ 22.12	$ 46,010
Minnesota	510	0.19	4.60	$ 16.28	$ 33,850
Pennsylvania	370	0.07	1.61	$ 18.07	$ 37,580
New York	270	0.03	0.75	$ 31.01	$ 64,510
Georgia	240	0.06	1.35	$ 18.17	$ 37,790

Map of location quotient of photographic process workers and processing machine operators by state, May 2021

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Minnesota	510	0.19	4.60	$ 16.28	$ 33,850
Nebraska	110	0.11	2.74	$ 18.39	$ 38,260
Missouri	240	0.09	2.14	$ 15.39	$ 32,010
Utah	110	0.07	1.72	$ 17.80	$ 37,020
California	1,140	0.07	1.69	$ 22.12	$ 46,010

Map of annual mean wages of photographic process workers and processing machine operators by state, May 2021

Top paying states for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York	270	0.03	0.75	$ 31.01	$ 64,510
Massachusetts	190	0.06	1.37	$ 27.49	$ 57,180
Virginia	110	0.03	0.73	$ 24.87	$ 51,720
California	1,140	0.07	1.69	$ 22.12	$ 46,010
New Jersey	70	0.02	0.42	$ 21.96	$ 45,680

Map of employment of photographic process workers and processing machine operators by area, May 2021

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	480	0.26	6.45	$ 16.25	$ 33,800
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	440	0.08	1.87	$ 24.40	$ 50,750
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	280	0.03	0.80	$ 30.62	$ 63,690
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	180	0.07	1.74	$ 27.35	$ 56,880
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	170	0.07	1.61	$ 19.12	$ 39,770
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	170	0.06	1.59	$ 19.70	$ 40,970
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	160	0.07	1.71	$ 24.25	$ 50,440
St. Louis, MO-IL	100	0.08	1.89	$ 16.48	$ 34,270
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	90	0.06	1.55	$ 18.84	$ 39,190
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	70	0.12	2.91	$ 14.89	$ 30,960

Map of location quotient of photographic process workers and processing machine operators by area, May 2021

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	50	0.54	13.30	$ 15.93	$ 33,140
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	480	0.26	6.45	$ 16.25	$ 33,800
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	70	0.12	2.91	$ 14.89	$ 30,960
St. Louis, MO-IL	100	0.08	1.89	$ 16.48	$ 34,270
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	440	0.08	1.87	$ 24.40	$ 50,750
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	180	0.07	1.74	$ 27.35	$ 56,880
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	160	0.07	1.71	$ 24.25	$ 50,440
Kansas City, MO-KS	70	0.07	1.64	$ 16.26	$ 33,810
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	170	0.07	1.61	$ 19.12	$ 39,770
Pittsburgh, PA	70	0.07	1.60	$ 17.77	$ 36,960

Map of annual mean wages of photographic process workers and processing machine operators by area, May 2021

Top paying metropolitan areas for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	280	0.03	0.80	$ 30.62	$ 63,690
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	180	0.07	1.74	$ 27.35	$ 56,880
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	440	0.08	1.87	$ 24.40	$ 50,750
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	160	0.07	1.71	$ 24.25	$ 50,440
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	50	0.03	0.66	$ 23.38	$ 48,630
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	40	0.02	0.57	$ 22.55	$ 46,910
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	70	0.06	1.51	$ 21.66	$ 45,050
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	(8)	(8)	(8)	$ 21.15	$ 44,000
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN	50	0.05	1.22	$ 20.77	$ 43,200
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	50	0.02	0.60	$ 20.57	$ 42,780

About May 2021 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia. The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(7) The value is less than .005 percent of industry employment.

(8) Estimate not released.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.

Other OEWS estimates and related information:

May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2021 Occupation Profiles

Technical Notes

Last Modified Date: March 31, 2022