Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $32K, rent takes 28.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $663/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders typically earn — is $22K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,310/month. At HUD’s $663/month FMR, rent would take 51% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 33% below the national median — $32K here vs. $48K nationally.

San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas pays $32K median vs. the U.S. average of $48K — that’s -33%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 100), the purchasing-power equivalent is $32K — below the national median.

The median is $32,150 a year, that works out to about $15 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $21,840, and experienced coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders can clear $39,220. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,323/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $663/month, which eats 28.5% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders salary is worth about $32,150 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.