How much do Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders make in Kalamazoo-Portage, MI?

Percentile spread

For Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, the published 10th percentile is $38,240 and the 90th percentile is $48,850. The difference is $10,610, which is 24.1% 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 $38,240 to the 75th at $48,680, covers $10,440.

The mean annual wage is $43,610, which sits below the median of $44,100. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Kalamazoo-Portage, MI median is 10% lower than the national median of $48,990 for Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders. In 2024 national prices the local median is $46,499, which is 5.1% lower than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 0.5% lower than the Michigan median of $44,310.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Kalamazoo-Portage, MI is 94.840, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $44,100 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders at $46,499 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

26 other metropolitan areas within 200 miles publish a annual median for Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders. Kalamazoo-Portage, MI ranks 22nd of 27 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).).

• South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI is 44 miles away, with a median of $47,500 and employment of 120. That median is 7.7% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $51,153, against $46,499 here.
• Elkhart-Goshen, IN is 48 miles away, with a median of $47,920 and employment of 310. That median is 8.7% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $53,053, against $46,499 here.
• Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is 52 miles away, with a median of $48,080 and employment of 660. That median is 9% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $50,321, against $46,499 here.

Employment share

Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders accounts for 0.10% of wage-and-salary employment in Kalamazoo-Portage, MI (120 of 121,790). Nationally the occupation is 0.06% of employment (94,920 of 155,495,730). The local share is 1.61 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.