• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023

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)
151,450	1.1 %	$ 21.37	$ 44,450	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Printing Press Operators:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 14.32	$ 17.10	$ 20.13	$ 24.12	$ 29.57
Annual Wage (2)	$ 29,790	$ 35,560	$ 41,860	$ 50,160	$ 61,500

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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	90,740	23.98	$ 21.40	$ 44,510
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	10,270	3.76	$ 25.06	$ 52,120
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	6,060	1.21	$ 19.24	$ 40,020
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	5,540	1.89	$ 22.13	$ 46,030
Plastics Product Manufacturing	4,860	0.80	$ 22.04	$ 45,830

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	90,740	23.98	$ 21.40	$ 44,510
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	10,270	3.76	$ 25.06	$ 52,120
Textile and Fabric Finishing and Fabric Coating Mills	810	3.41	$ 19.57	$ 40,700
Other Textile Product Mills	1,450	2.43	$ 17.21	$ 35,800
Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	5,540	1.89	$ 22.13	$ 46,030

Top paying industries for Printing Press Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding State and Local Government Schools and Hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OEWS Designation)	550	0.03	$ 54.88	$ 114,140
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	450	0.01	$ 30.07	$ 62,540
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	150	0.03	$ 29.01	$ 60,340
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	90	0.03	$ 28.70	$ 59,700
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	350	0.07	$ 28.58	$ 59,440

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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	13,080	0.73	0.73	$ 22.76	$ 47,340
Texas	10,040	0.74	0.74	$ 20.19	$ 42,000
Illinois	9,770	1.63	1.63	$ 21.64	$ 45,020
Ohio	8,110	1.48	1.49	$ 20.77	$ 43,190
Pennsylvania	7,820	1.31	1.32	$ 21.67	$ 45,070

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	6,900	2.39	2.40	$ 22.97	$ 47,780
Nebraska	2,230	2.23	2.23	$ 20.55	$ 42,750
Minnesota	5,860	2.04	2.04	$ 23.19	$ 48,240
Kansas	2,740	1.94	1.95	$ 19.19	$ 39,900
Illinois	9,770	1.63	1.63	$ 21.64	$ 45,020

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	350	0.50	0.51	$ 49.14	$ 102,210
Massachusetts	2,390	0.66	0.66	$ 24.29	$ 50,520
New Hampshire	750	1.10	1.11	$ 24.13	$ 50,190
New Jersey	3,610	0.86	0.86	$ 23.78	$ 49,470
Washington	2,240	0.64	0.64	$ 23.67	$ 49,230

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	7,680	1.70	1.71	$ 22.01	$ 45,770
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	6,500	1.05	1.05	$ 22.09	$ 45,950
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	5,980	0.63	0.63	$ 24.59	$ 51,140
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	4,410	1.11	1.12	$ 22.79	$ 47,410
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	4,070	2.13	2.13	$ 23.92	$ 49,750
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	3,200	1.13	1.14	$ 20.96	$ 43,600
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	2,910	1.03	1.03	$ 23.65	$ 49,180
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	2,220	0.81	0.82	$ 19.71	$ 40,990
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	2,150	2.64	2.65	$ 23.22	$ 48,300
Kansas City, MO-KS	2,080	1.93	1.94	$ 21.34	$ 44,390

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)
Mankato-North Mankato, MN	510	9.18	9.20	$ 21.53	$ 44,770
Lawrence, KS	330	6.74	6.75	$ 19.87	$ 41,320
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	610	6.58	6.60	$ 24.37	$ 50,700
Dalton, GA	370	5.63	5.64	$ 18.89	$ 39,290
Green Bay, WI	880	5.11	5.12	$ 24.02	$ 49,970
Terre Haute, IN	280	4.33	4.34	$ 23.67	$ 49,240
Appleton, WI	460	3.68	3.69	$ 22.80	$ 47,420
La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN	270	3.67	3.68	$ 21.96	$ 45,670
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA	1,760	3.64	3.65	$ 20.91	$ 43,480
Harrisonburg, VA	230	3.58	3.59	$ 21.06	$ 43,810