Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend machines that cut textiles.
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 Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders. 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 | $28,650 | $13.78 |
| 25th | $34,230 | $16.46 |
| 50th · Median | $38,760 | $18.64 |
| 75th | $45,220 | $21.74 |
| 90th | $49,420 | $23.76 |
“≥” 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.
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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 (48)
Typical tasks
- Inspect products to ensure that the quality standards and specifications are met.
- Place patterns on top of layers of fabric and cut fabric following patterns, using electric or manual knives, cutters, or computer numerically controlled cutting devices.
- Start machines, monitor operations, and make adjustments as needed.
- Adjust machine controls, such as heating mechanisms, tensions, or speeds, to produce specified products.
- Record information about work completed and machine settings.
- Notify supervisors of mechanical malfunctions.
Expand more tasks (12)
- Inspect machinery to determine whether repairs are needed.
- Confer with coworkers to obtain information about orders, processes, or problems.
- Repair or replace worn or defective parts or components, using hand tools.
- Clean, oil, and lubricate machines, using air hoses, cleaning solutions, rags, oilcans, and grease guns.
- Thread yarn, thread, or fabric through guides, needles, and rollers of machines.
- Operate machines to cut multiple layers of fabric into parts for articles such as canvas goods, house furnishings, garments, hats, or stuffed toys.
- Adjust cutting techniques to types of fabrics and styles of garments.
- Program electronic equipment.
- Study guides, samples, charts, and specification sheets or confer with supervisors or engineering staff to determine set-up requirements.
- Stop machines when specified amounts of product have been produced.
- Operate machines for test runs to verify adjustments and to obtain product samples.
- Install, level, and align components, such as gears, chains, guides, dies, cutters, or needles, to set up machinery for operation.
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.
- 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.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Expand more skills (29)
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- 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.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- 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.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- 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.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- 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.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
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