Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $51K, rent takes 60.4% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $2,044/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,000/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics typically earn — is $42K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,501/month.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $51K locally vs. $46K nationally, a 10% difference.

Colorado pays $51K median vs. the U.S. average of $46K — that’s +10%.

The median is $50,790 a year, that works out to about $24 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $41,690, and experienced cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics can clear $71,800. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,385/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $2,044/month, which eats 60.4% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Colorado 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 cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic salary is worth about $50,790 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.