SOC 51-4031 · Production Occupations · May 2025

How much do Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make in Raleigh-Cary, NC?

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 Raleigh-Cary, NC is $40,620. The 10th percentile is $34,670 and the 90th percentile is $56,800. Employment is 270.

Median annual wage

$40,620

10th percentile
$34,670
25th percentile
$37,330
Median
$40,620
75th percentile
$46,700
90th percentile
$56,800
Mean
$43,270

Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.

Farmworkers picking asparagus in a field in Baja California
Asparagus pickers in the Maneadero valley, Baja California. Photograph by Tomas Castelazo. Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Percentile spread

For Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, the published 10th percentile is $34,670 and the 90th percentile is $56,800. The difference is $22,130, which is 54.5% 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 $37,330 to the 75th at $46,700, covers $9,370.

The mean annual wage is $43,270, which sits above the median of $40,620. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Raleigh-Cary, NC median is 12.3% lower 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 $41,383, which is 10.7% lower than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 6.4% lower than the North Carolina median of $43,400.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Raleigh-Cary, NC is 98.157, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $40,620 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic at $41,383 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

16 other metropolitan areas within 200 miles publish a annual median for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Raleigh-Cary, NC ranks 14th of 17 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).).

  • Goldsboro, NC is 38 miles away, with a median of $37,390 and employment of 80. That median is 8% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $42,267, against $41,383 here.
  • Rocky Mount, NC is 39 miles away, with a median of $37,090 and employment of 110. That median is 8.7% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $42,142, against $41,383 here.
  • Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 39 miles away, with a median of $45,930 and employment of 120. That median is 13.1% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $47,073, against $41,383 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 Raleigh-Cary, NC (270 of 743,120). Nationally the occupation is 0.11% of employment (171,200 of 155,495,730). The local share is 0.33 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 Raleigh-Cary, NC · 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 Raleigh-Cary, NC?

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 Raleigh-Cary, NC is $40,620. The 10th percentile is $34,670 and the 90th percentile is $56,800. Employment is 270.

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 12.3% lower than the national median of $46,330.

What is Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Raleigh-Cary, NC after local prices?

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Raleigh-Cary, NC is 98.157, with the United States at 100. In those national prices, the May 2025 median of $40,620 is $41,383. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.

How does Raleigh-Cary, NC compare with nearby metros for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

Goldsboro, NC is the closest metropolitan area within 200 miles with a published annual median, 38 miles away, at $37,390. Raleigh-Cary, NC ranks 14th of 17 metros within 200 miles on that median. Distances use Census Bureau internal points.