Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend machines to extrude or draw thermoplastic or metal materials into tubes, rods, hoses, wire, bars, or structural shapes.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $36,700 | $17.65 |
| 25th | $40,450 | $19.45 |
| 50th · Median | $47,720 | $22.94 |
| 75th | $56,840 | $27.33 |
| 90th | $63,710 | $30.63 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
Where does your number sit?
Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
This compares wage amounts to published percentile thresholds. It does not estimate your personal percentile, adjust for your experience, or compare total compensation. Match the wage definition and occupation group before using the result.
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (15)
Typical tasks
- Measure and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance to specifications, adjusting controls as necessary to alter products.
- Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.
- Determine setup procedures and select machine dies and parts, according to specifications.
- Troubleshoot, maintain, and make minor repairs to equipment.
- Change dies on extruding machines, according to production line changes.
- Load machine hoppers with mixed materials, using augers, or stuff rolls of plastic dough into machine cylinders.
Expand more tasks (10)
- Install dies, machine screws, and sizing rings on machines that extrude thermoplastic or metal materials.
- Operate shearing mechanisms to cut rods to specified lengths.
- Maintain an inventory of materials.
- Clean work areas.
- Adjust controls to draw or press metal into specified shapes and diameters.
- Replace worn dies when products vary from specifications.
- Test physical properties of products with testing devices such as acid-bath testers, burst testers, and impact testers.
- Reel extruded products into rolls of specified lengths and weights.
- Weigh and mix pelletized, granular, or powdered thermoplastic materials and coloring pigments.
- Select nozzles, spacers, and wire guides, according to diameters and lengths of rods.
Skills used in this work
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Expand more skills (29)
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Explore wages by location.
0 retained state and local wage references are available. Start with these selected locations, or search the full market directory for this career.
Local wage references are not retained for this occupation. The national view and employer evidence may still help.
Available links reflect retained source coverage for this career.
Find the next step that fits.
Look at current disclosed job ranges, explore supported employer salary evidence, or build a proposed hiring range with your own assumptions.