Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $51K, rent takes 48% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,615/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 food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders typically earn — is $36K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,188/month.

Local pay is 13% above the national median — $51K here vs. $45K nationally.

Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area pays $51K median vs. the U.S. average of $45K — that’s +13%.

The median is $50,740 a year, that works out to about $24 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $36,470, and experienced food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders can clear $57,210. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,362/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,615/month, which eats 48% 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.

Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area 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 food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders salary is worth about $50,740 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.