BLS metro-level wage data places Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders pay in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA at a median of $48,930 per year ($23.52/hr/hour), drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared to the national median of $50,270, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim pays 3% below, which typically tracks with a lower local cost of living or smaller specialized-employer cluster. Approximately 2,060 paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenderss are employed across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA in SOC 51-9196.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim pay distribution spans from $37,120 at the 10th percentile to $62,400 at the 90th — a 1.7× spread that reflects experience tenure, specialization, employer size, and the difference between public-sector, nonprofit, and private-sector compensation inside the metro. The 25th percentile sits at $44,300 and the 75th at $59,300, so half of Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim-based paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenderss earn within that middle band.

Metro figures capture where you actually work, not just where you live — which matters for commuters. BLS draws metro boundaries from the OMB MSA definitions, so Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA covers the central city plus outlying counties tied to the metro economically. Remember that OEWS wages reflect base pay only: employer-provided health insurance, retirement matches, stock options, signing bonuses, overtime, and tips are excluded and can add 20-40% to real total compensation. Before using this metro median as a negotiation anchor, triangulate against the same occupation's national profile (linked below), its state-wide CA data, and peer-metro comparisons — a median is a starting point, not a ceiling.