Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in the Dalton Metro

BLS metro-level wage data places Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders pay in Dalton, GA at a median of $35,560 per year ($17.09/hr), drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared with the national median of $50,270, the metro estimate is 29% below. OEWS reports the difference but does not identify its cause. Approximately 170 paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders are employed across the Dalton MSA in SOC 51-9196.

The Dalton pay distribution spans from $28,180 at the 10th percentile to $46,060 at the 90th, a 1.6× 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 $35,140 and the 75th at $45,020, so half of Dalton-based paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders earn within that middle band.

Metro figures use establishment work location, not worker residence. BLS draws metro boundaries from the OMB MSA definitions, so Dalton, GA 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 GA estimate, and peer-metro rows provide distinct geographic comparisons. A published median is a benchmark, not a prediction or ceiling for one worker.