SOC 51-9012 · Production Occupations · May 2025

How much do Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders make in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI?

In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is $49,830. The 10th percentile is $34,140 and the 90th percentile is $61,430. Employment is 430.

Median annual wage

$49,830

10th percentile
$34,140
25th percentile
$43,000
Median
$49,830
75th percentile
$56,910
90th percentile
$61,430
Mean
$50,630

Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.

A welder at work with a torch
A welder at a bench, 2014. Photograph by Chetan Menaria. Wikimedia Commons · CC0

Percentile spread

For Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, the published 10th percentile is $34,140 and the 90th percentile is $61,430. The difference is $27,290, which is 54.8% 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 $43,000 to the 75th at $56,910, covers $13,910.

The mean annual wage is $50,630, which sits above the median of $49,830. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI median is 3.4% lower than the national median of $51,610 for Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders. In 2024 national prices the local median is $52,153, which is 1.1% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 0.7% higher than the Michigan median of $49,480.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is 95.546, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $49,830 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders at $52,153 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 Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders. Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI ranks 6th 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).).

  • Kalamazoo-Portage, MI is 52 miles away, with a median of $51,600 and employment of 100. That median is 3.6% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $54,407, against $52,153 here.
  • Lansing-East Lansing, MI is 59 miles away, with a median of $56,490 and employment of 120. That median is 13.4% higher than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $59,469, against $52,153 here.
  • Jackson, MI is 83 miles away, with a median of $46,380 and employment of 40. That median is 6.9% lower than the median here. In 2024 national prices it is $50,534, against $52,153 here.

Employment share

Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders accounts for 0.07% of wage-and-salary employment in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI (430 of 598,260). Nationally the occupation is 0.04% of employment (60,100 of 155,495,730). The local share is 1.86 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 Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI · Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 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 Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders make in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI?

In the May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is $49,830. The 10th percentile is $34,140 and the 90th percentile is $61,430. Employment is 430.

How does that compare with the national median for Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?

The local median is 3.4% lower than the national median of $51,610.

What is Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders pay in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI after local prices?

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is 95.546, with the United States at 100. In those national prices, the May 2025 median of $49,830 is $52,153. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.

How does Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI compare with nearby metros for Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?

Kalamazoo-Portage, MI is the closest metropolitan area within 200 miles with a published annual median, 52 miles away, at $51,600. Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI ranks 6th of 15 metros within 200 miles on that median. Distances use Census Bureau internal points.