Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$50,140

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$44,020 – $61,880

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

25,250

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

-8.3%

Shrinking (below 0%)

Openings a year (projected)

1,900

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Set up, operate, or tend machines to roll steel or plastic forming bends, beads, knurls, rolls, or plate, or to flatten, temper, or reduce gauge of material.

Main tasks

• Monitor machine cycles and mill operation to detect jamming and to ensure that products conform to specifications.
• Adjust and correct machine set-ups to reduce thicknesses, reshape products, and eliminate product defects.
• Start operation of rolling and milling machines to flatten, temper, form, and reduce sheet metal sections and to produce steel strips.
• Examine, inspect, and measure raw materials and finished products to verify conformance to specifications.
• Read rolling orders, blueprints, and mill schedules to determine setup specifications, work sequences, product dimensions, and installation procedures.
• Manipulate controls and observe dial indicators to monitor, adjust, and regulate speeds of machine mechanisms.
• Set distance points between rolls, guides, meters, and stops, according to specifications.
• Calculate draft space and roll speed for each mill stand to plan rolling sequences and specified dimensions and tempers.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 2 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

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