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Power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers had median hourly wages of $36.38 in May 2015
January 19, 2017
In May 2015, there were over 9 million production jobs in the United States; their median hourly wage was $15.51. Power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers had the highest median hourly wages ($36.38) among the 50 production occupation groups. Median hourly earnings are the midpoint in an earnings distribution, with half of jobs having earnings above the median and the other half having earnings below the median. Median hourly wages for pressers, textile, garment, and related materials jobs ($9.84) were lower than wages of other production occupations during the same period.
Employment and wages in production occupations, May 2015
Occupational group
Employment
Median hourly wage
Production occupations
9,073,290
$15.51
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators
1,366,250
13.87
Miscellaneous production workers
881,020
12.78
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers
603,080
27.09
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers
508,590
17.31
Welding, soldering, and brazing workers
439,320
18.23
Machinists
399,040
19.49
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders
378,560
13.02
Butchers and other meat, poultry, and fish processing workers
372,980
12.34
Machine tool cutting setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
342,970
15.79
Electrical, electronics, and electromechanical assemblers
273,030
15.07
Printing workers
256,040
16.64
Miscellaneous food processing workers
234,060
12.67
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers
201,620
10.01
Crushing, grinding, polishing, mixing, and blending workers
188,510
16.09
Bakers
176,610
11.62
Computer control programmers and operators
172,260
18.48
Painting workers
156,550
16.51
Molders and molding machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
148,410
14.24
Sewing machine operators
141,520
10.84
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders
124,150
13.37
Forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
123,780
16.82
Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
115,400
20.84
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators
114,770
21.53
Miscellaneous plant and system operators
105,670
29.85
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
105,570
16.32
Miscellaneous metal workers and plastic workers
99,270
16.48
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters
93,650
15.52
Medical, dental, and ophthalmic laboratory technicians
80,150
16.32
Structural metal fabricators and fitters
79,620
17.81
Cutting workers
79,070
14.89
Textile machine setters, operators, and tenders
76,630
12.83
Tool and die makers
74,510
24.18
Miscellaneous textile, apparel, and furnishings workers
71,690
14.96
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders
71,430
15.46
Power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers
55,990
36.38
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials
48,340
9.84
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers
42,810
23.55
Engine and other machine assemblers
38,700
19.04
Stationary engineers and boiler operators
34,630
28.14
Metal furnace operators, tenders, pourers, and casters
29,700
18.99
Tailors, dressmakers, and sewers
26,900
12.08
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
25,270
17.82
Semiconductor processors
24,230
17.01
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators
23,940
12.78
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders
19,650
17.00
Furniture finishers
16,480
14.04
Shoe and leather workers
11,410
11.58
Model makers and patternmakers, metal and plastic
10,400
21.13
Miscellaneous woodworkers
6,900
13.94
Model makers and patternmakers, wood
2,180
17.18
Among the 50 occupation groups within production occupations, there were 1,366,250 miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators in May 2015. The miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators accounted for 15 percent of all jobs in production occupations, the most of any group. Miscellaneous production workers (881,020) and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (603,080) followed miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators as the production occupations with the greatest number of production occupation jobs.
United States Department of Labor
