SOC 51-4191 · Production Occupations · May 2025

How much do Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY?

In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY is $47,430. The 10th percentile is $37,750 and the 90th percentile is $62,180. Employment is 30.

Median annual wage

$47,430

10th percentile
$37,750
25th percentile
$39,920
Median
$47,430
75th percentile
$56,160
90th percentile
$62,180
Mean
$48,980

Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.

A U.S. Air Force firefighter standing beside a fire truck
Senior Airman Stephen Czech, a firefighter at Spangdahlem Air Base, in 2021. Photograph by Staff Sgt. Susan Roberts, U.S. Air Force. Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Percentile spread

For Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, the published 10th percentile is $37,750 and the 90th percentile is $62,180. The difference is $24,430, which is 51.5% 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 $39,920 to the 75th at $56,160, covers $16,240.

The mean annual wage is $48,980, which sits above the median of $47,430. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY median is 2.7% lower than the national median of $48,750 for Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. In 2024 national prices the local median is $49,487, which is 1.5% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 10.4% lower than the New York median of $52,940.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY is 95.844, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $47,430 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic at $49,487 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

5 other metropolitan areas within 200 miles publish a annual median for Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY ranks 6th of 6 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).).

  • Rochester, NY is 62 miles away, with a median of $54,170 and employment of 60. That median is 14.2% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $55,825, against $49,487 here.
  • Erie, PA is 93 miles away, with a median of $48,120 and employment of 90. That median is 1.5% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $52,908, against $49,487 here.
  • Cleveland, OH is 166 miles away, with a median of $50,690 and employment of 240. That median is 6.9% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $53,970, against $49,487 here.

Employment share

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic accounts for 0.01% of wage-and-salary employment in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY (30 of 534,550). Nationally the occupation is 0.01% of employment (14,000 of 155,495,730). The local share is 0.62 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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY · Heat Treating Equipment 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 Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic make in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY?

In the May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY is $47,430. The 10th percentile is $37,750 and the 90th percentile is $62,180. Employment is 30.

How does that compare with the national median for Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

The local median is 2.7% lower than the national median of $48,750.

What is Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY after local prices?

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY is 95.844, with the United States at 100. In those national prices, the May 2025 median of $47,430 is $49,487. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.

How does Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY compare with nearby metros for Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

Rochester, NY is the closest metropolitan area within 200 miles with a published annual median, 62 miles away, at $54,170. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY ranks 6th of 6 metros within 200 miles on that median. Distances use Census Bureau internal points.