Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $59K, rent takes 75.6% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $3,001/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,200/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics typically earn — is $47K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,834/month. At HUD’s $3,001/month FMR, rent would take 106% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay is 12% above the national median — $59K here vs. $53K nationally. Keep in mind cost of living here is 12% above the national average, which offsets some of that premium.

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad pays $59K median vs. the U.S. average of $53K — that’s +12%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 111.89), the purchasing-power equivalent is $53K — below the national median.

The median is $59,050 a year, that works out to about $28 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $47,240, and experienced milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastics can clear $75,840. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,971/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $3,001/month, which eats 75.6% 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.

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad has a Regional Price Parity of 111.89 (100 is the national average). Prices are above average here, so your dollar buys less than the same salary would in a cheaper metro. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic salary is worth about $52,775 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.