Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $37K, rent takes 60.7% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,601/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $800/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics typically earn — is $31K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,886/month.

Local pay runs 21% below the national median — $37K here vs. $47K nationally.

South Central Tennessee nonmetropolitan area pays $37K median vs. the U.S. average of $47K — that’s -21%.

The median is $36,870 a year, that works out to about $18 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $31,440, and experienced grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics can clear $52,610. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,639/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,601/month, which eats 60.7% 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.

South Central Tennessee 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 grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic salary is worth about $36,870 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.