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

BLS metro-level wage data places Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Merced, CA at a median of $45,130 per year ($21.70/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 3% below. OEWS reports the difference but does not identify its cause. Approximately 40 cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic are employed across the Merced MSA in SOC 51-4031.

The Merced pay distribution spans from $35,250 at the 10th percentile to $66,150 at the 90th, a 1.9× 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 $36,750 and the 75th at $56,410, so half of Merced-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 Merced, CA 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 CA estimate, and peer-metro rows provide distinct geographic comparisons. A published median is a benchmark, not a prediction or ceiling for one worker.