Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, aged to 2026 using compounded market movement. State selections show BLS state-level figures where published. Actual pay varies with experience, industry, and organization size.
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary by state
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is a professional role in the Production job family, focused on Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic work. Pay for this title reflects both its level and its scope; see our Title Level and Organization Responsibility guides for how WePayFairly defines them.
What Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastics do
Typical education: High School Diploma
Read production schedules and work orders to determine processing sequences, furnace temperatures, and heat cycle requirements for objects to be heat-treated.
Record times that parts are removed from furnaces to document that objects have attained specified temperatures for specified times.
Adjust controls to maintain temperatures and heating times, using thermal instruments and charts, dials and gauges of furnaces, and color of stock in furnaces to make setting determinations.
Start conveyors and open furnace doors to load stock, or signal crane operators to uncover soaking pits and lower ingots into them.
Set up and operate or tend machines, such as furnaces, baths, flame-hardening machines, and electronic induction machines, that harden, anneal, and heat-treat metal.
Top skills:Operations MonitoringOperation and ControlSpeakingQuality Control AnalysisMonitoringActive Listening
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic salary by industry
Sectors 31, 32, and 33 – Manufacturing
12,860 workers
$52,000
Wholesale Trade
590 workers
$52,000
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
340 workers
$44,000
Construction
50 workers
$84,000
Other Services (except Public Administration)
50 workers
$52,500
Federal, State, and Local Government, excl. State & Local Schools & Hospitals & USPS
50 workers
$75,000
Federal Government, including the U.S. Postal Service (OEWS Designation)
50 workers
$75,000
National sector-level figures, BLS OEWS May 2025, aged to 2026.
How this role compares
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pays 5% below the average across 105 roles in the Production job family (family average $55,000).
How much does a Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make?
The average base salary for a Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the United States is $52,500 per year, or about $25.24 per hour.
What is the typical salary range?
Pay typically falls between $42,000 and $60,500 per year (25th to 75th percentile) depending on experience, location, industry, and organization size.
How does this compare with other Production roles?
The Production job family averages $55,000 across 105 roles tracked by WePayFairly.
Need a defensible market price for this role? WePayFairly data is compiled from published survey sources and maintained by compensation professionals.
