Production Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Peer-group outlier SOC 51-3091

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

Median pay sits 40% below the mid peer in Production Occupations (neighbors include Gas Plant Operators, Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers, Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators, Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers).

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders: Gas Plant Operators ($88K) , Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers ($63K) , Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators ($79K) , Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers ($65K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 51-3091 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing to ensure conformance to standards
  2. 2. Take product samples during or after processing for laboratory analyses
  3. 3. Set temperature and time controls, light ovens, burners, driers, or roasters, and start equipment, such as conveyors, cylinders, blowers…
  4. 4. Observe temperature, humidity, pressure gauges, and product samples and adjust controls, such as thermostats and valves, to maintain pres…
  5. 5. Observe flow of materials and listen for machine malfunctions, such as jamming or spillage, and notify supervisors if corrective actions…
  6. 6. Test products for moisture content, using moisture meters
  7. 7. Record production data, such as weight and amount of product processed, type of product, and time and temperature of processing
  8. 8. Weigh or measure products, using scale hoppers or scale conveyors
  9. 9. Clear or dislodge blockages in bins, screens, or other equipment, using poles, brushes, or mallets
  10. 10. Operate or tend equipment that roasts, bakes, dries, or cures food items such as cocoa and coffee beans, grains, nuts, and bakery products
  11. 11. Signal coworkers to synchronize flow of materials
  12. 12. Start conveyors to move roasted grain to cooling pans and agitate grain with rakes as blowers force air through perforated bottoms of pans

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders: O*NET ranks Operations Monitoring first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 51-3091 - lead skill Operations Monitoring at 3.6 ; lead knowledge Production and Processing. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Operations Monitoring 3.6
  2. 2. Monitoring 3.5
  3. 3. Reading Comprehension 3.1
  4. 4. Active Listening 3.1
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.1
  6. 6. Operation and Control 3.1
  7. 7. Quality Control Analysis 3.1
  8. 8. Speaking 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Production and Processing 3.6
  2. 2. English Language 3.3
  3. 3. Public Safety and Security 3.0
  4. 4. Food Production 3.0
  5. 5. Mathematics 2.3
  6. 6. Education and Training 2.3
Pay vs Production Occupations peers
-40%
vs mid peer median $74,450
This role $44,810/yr
$45K
National median
↑ +1%
Growth 2024-2034
2,400
Annual openings
20,370
Estimated US jobs
Gas Plant Operators
Highest-pay peer · $88K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education No formal educational credential

Top Paying States for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

1. North Dakota $77,300
2. Washington $50,590
3. Minnesota $50,340
4. Maryland $60,170
5. Virginia $59,260
6. Nevada $54,950
7. Maine $50,220
8. Alaska $55,280
9. Pennsylvania $49,660
10. Colorado $59,590

Other Production Occupations titles

  1. 1. Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators $78,620
  2. 2. Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers $65,380
  3. 3. Chemical Plant and System Operators $78,120
  4. 4. Gas Plant Operators $87,820
  5. 5. Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers $62,750
  6. 6. Tool and Die Makers $64,050

Among Production Occupations peers on this card, Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders sits 40% below the mid peer median ($74,450). Its own median is $44,810.

Employment Projections expect +1% change between 2024 and 2034 (slower than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 2,400 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns No formal educational credential as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: North Dakota at $77,300. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Gas Plant Operators at $87,820. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders pay-rank #67 in Production Occupations

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders sits at pay-rank #67 of 105 detailed Production Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 51-3091 · national median $44,810 · middle third of Production Occupations (#67/105). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 51-3091

North Dakota · top state for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

$77K published median

Washington · #2 state pay

$51K · behind North Dakota

Gas Plant Operators

Highest-pay peer vs Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders · $88K

Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers

Lower-pay peer beside Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders · $63K

Compare Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders with another occupation →

Peer-comparison next reads

Compare Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

Against another occupation

Gas Plant Operators card

Top peer in this major group

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders mid-table among Production Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #67 of 105 detailed Production Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators ($45K), Furniture Finishers ($45K), Woodworkers, All Other ($45K), Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders ($46K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders. Leading ones include: Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing to ensure conformance to standards; Take product samples during or after processing for laboratory analyses; Set temperature and time controls, light ovens, burners, driers, or roasters, and start equipment, such as conveyors, cylinders, blowers…; Observe temperature, humidity, pressure gauges, and product samples and adjust controls, such as thermostats and valves, to maintain pres…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders? ▼
For SOC 51-3091, O*NET importance scores lead with Operations Monitoring (3.6), Monitoring (3.5), Reading Comprehension (3.1), Active Listening (3.1). Knowledge areas emphasize Production and Processing, English Language, Public Safety and Security. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $44,810 as the national median for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders. The published 10th-90th range is $33,250 to $62,680. Beside Gas Plant Operators ($87,820), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders is +1%. Projected annual openings: about 2,400. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: slower than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders? ▼
BLS assigns No formal educational credential as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders? ▼
North Dakota ($77,300), Washington ($50,590), Minnesota ($50,340) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 51-3091. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics