Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Fort Smith Metro

BLS metro-level wage data places Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Fort Smith, AR-OK at a median of $40,480 per year ($19.46/hr), drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared with the national median of $46,330, the metro estimate is 13% below. OEWS reports the difference but does not identify its cause. Approximately 200 cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic are employed across the Fort Smith MSA in SOC 51-4031.

The Fort Smith pay distribution spans from $35,250 at the 10th percentile to $50,200 at the 90th, a 1.4× observed spread. Differences in specialization, employer, sector, location, credentials, schedule, and experience may all contribute, but OEWS does not isolate their effects. The 25th percentile sits at $37,510 and the 75th at $48,580, so half of Fort Smith-based cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn within that middle band.

Metro figures use establishment work location, not worker residence. BLS draws metro boundaries from the OMB MSA definitions, so Fort Smith, AR-OK covers the central city plus outlying counties tied to the metro economically. OEWS includes straight-time pay, tips, commissions, incentive pay, and production bonuses. It excludes employer health and retirement benefits, overtime premiums, stock compensation, signing bonuses, and other nonproduction bonuses. The same occupation's national profile, statewide AR estimate, and peer-metro rows provide distinct geographic comparisons. A published median is a benchmark, not a prediction or ceiling for one worker.