Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in the Fort Wayne Metro

BLS metro-level wage data places Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic pay in Fort Wayne, IN at a median of $39,210 per year ($18.85/hr), drawn from the OEWS May 2025 release for this Metropolitan Statistical Area. Compared with the national median of $43,960, the metro estimate is 11% below. OEWS reports the difference but does not identify its cause. Approximately 130 plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic are employed across the Fort Wayne MSA in SOC 51-4193.

The Fort Wayne pay distribution spans from $35,420 at the 10th percentile to $49,710 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 $38,310 and the 75th at $44,470, so half of Fort Wayne-based plating 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 Wayne, IN 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 IN estimate, and peer-metro rows provide distinct geographic comparisons. A published median is a benchmark, not a prediction or ceiling for one worker.