Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $41K, rent takes 41.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,215/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $900/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics typically earn — is $35K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,105/month. At HUD’s $1,215/month FMR, rent would take 58% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 20% below the national median — $41K here vs. $51K nationally. Cost of living is 10% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Tennessee pays $41K median vs. the U.S. average of $51K — that’s -20%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 89.78), the purchasing-power equivalent is $45K — below the national median.

The median is $40,730 a year, that works out to about $20 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $35,080, and experienced lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics can clear $59,910. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,897/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,215/month, which eats 41.9% 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.

Tennessee has a Regional Price Parity of 89.78 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic salary is worth about $45,366 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.