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

BLS metro-level wage data places Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Ocala, FL at a median of $41,510 per year ($19.96/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 10% below. OEWS reports the difference but does not identify its cause. Approximately 60 cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic are employed across the Ocala MSA in SOC 51-4031.

The Ocala pay distribution spans from $33,790 at the 10th percentile to $49,940 at the 90th, a 1.5× 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 $36,320 and the 75th at $46,670, so half of Ocala-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 Ocala, FL 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 FL estimate, and peer-metro rows provide distinct geographic comparisons. A published median is a benchmark, not a prediction or ceiling for one worker.