SOC 51-4031 · Production Occupations · May 2025

How much do Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO?

In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is $58,240. The 10th percentile is $44,350 and the 90th percentile is $90,090. Employment is 640.

Median annual wage

$58,240

10th percentile
$44,350
25th percentile
$49,960
Median
$58,240
75th percentile
$66,450
90th percentile
$90,090
Mean
$61,430

Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.

A transit bus driver standing beside a bus at a rest stop in Denali
Denali transit bus driver Gary at Teklanika Rest Stop, August 29, 2019. Photograph by Emily Mesner, National Park Service. Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Percentile spread

For Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, the published 10th percentile is $44,350 and the 90th percentile is $90,090. The difference is $45,740, which is 78.5% of the median. Ten percent of measured wages fall below the 10th percentile and ten percent fall above the 90th. How to read a percentile.

The middle half of the distribution, from the 25th percentile at $49,960 to the 75th at $66,450, covers $16,490.

The mean annual wage is $61,430, which sits above the median of $58,240. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO median is 25.7% higher than the national median of $46,330 for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. In 2024 national prices the local median is $55,057, which is 18.8% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 14.7% higher than the Colorado median of $50,790.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is 105.782, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $58,240 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic at $55,057 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

6 other metropolitan areas within 200 miles publish a annual median for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO ranks 1st of 7 on that median, counting itself. Distance is the great-circle mileage between Census Bureau internal points (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Gazetteer Files, Core Based Statistical Areas, internal points (INTPTLAT, INTPTLONG).).

  • Colorado Springs, CO is 43 miles away, with a median of $47,890 and employment of 160. That median is 17.8% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $47,554, against $55,057 here.
  • Boulder, CO is 53 miles away, with a median of $51,980 and employment of 40. That median is 10.7% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $49,410, against $55,057 here.
  • Greeley, CO is 82 miles away, with a median of $47,190 and employment of 110. That median is 19% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $47,107, against $55,057 here.

Employment share

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic accounts for 0.04% of wage-and-salary employment in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO (640 of 1,609,350). Nationally the occupation is 0.11% of employment (171,200 of 155,495,730). The local share is 0.36 times the national share. That ratio is the location quotient computed from these May 2025 employment counts. It is not copied from the location-quotient column in the BLS bulk file.

Highest-paying jobs in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO · Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic by metro · How to read these percentiles · Median and mean · When a wage is not published · How the figures are made · Compare this wage after prices

Questions this page answers

How much do Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO?

In the May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is $58,240. The 10th percentile is $44,350 and the 90th percentile is $90,090. Employment is 640.

How does that compare with the national median for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

The local median is 25.7% higher than the national median of $46,330.

What is Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO after local prices?

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is 105.782, with the United States at 100. In those national prices, the May 2025 median of $58,240 is $55,057. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.

How does Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO compare with nearby metros for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

Colorado Springs, CO is the closest metropolitan area within 200 miles with a published annual median, 43 miles away, at $47,890. Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO ranks 1st of 7 metros within 200 miles on that median. Distances use Census Bureau internal points.