How much do Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC?

Percentile spread

For Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, the published 10th percentile is $46,460 and the 90th percentile is $59,460. The difference is $13,000, which is 24.2% 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 $48,820 to the 75th at $56,620, covers $7,800.

The mean annual wage is $53,430, which sits below the median of $53,800. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC median is 12.7% higher than the national median of $47,720 for Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. In 2024 national prices the local median is $60,801, which is 27.4% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 0.9% higher than the North Carolina median of $53,330.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC is 88.486, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $53,800 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic at $60,801 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

14 other metropolitan areas within 200 miles publish a annual median for Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC ranks 3rd of 15 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).).

• Johnson City, TN is 58 miles away, with a median of $42,140 and employment of 90. That median is 21.7% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $47,926, against $60,801 here.
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC is 58 miles away, with a median of $49,450 and employment of 800. That median is 8.1% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $50,797, against $60,801 here.
• Asheville, NC is 64 miles away, with a median of $50,880 and employment of 170. That median is 5.4% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $52,722, against $60,801 here.

Employment share

Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic accounts for 0.61% of wage-and-salary employment in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC (940 of 154,090). Nationally the occupation is 0.04% of employment (60,840 of 155,495,730). The local share is 15.59 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.